The Fidget Connections Canon: Unspoken Words
by Reyelene
Summary: Loosely inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank, Captain Lillian Bates's diary is found by Basil of Baker Street. Since it is technically his day off working on cases, he decides to read it ... which reveals hidden feelings Bates never shared, especially toward Fidget. Contains foul language, mild violence, and sexual situations.
1. Prologue

**Although this one was not my very first pastiche story, this one is actually a prequel to** ** _Don't You Dare Deny Me_** **. Originally, I had not intended to have any prequels and move forward from** ** _Don't You Dare Deny Me_** **(I'm the kind of writer who likes to move forward, not backwards, otherwise I'll go nuts). But, as I was writing the character biography for Captain Lillian Bates, I started getting a multitude of ideas in my head that were just begging to be written separate from the biography.**

 **This story is loosely inspired by the classic** ** _Diary of Anne Frank_** **and will be frequently swapping from 3rd person to 1st person, between Basil's perspective and Captain Lillian Bates's perspective. Enjoy!**

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 _ **Prologue:**_

The crackling flames in the fireplace reminded him of ... _her_. The Greatest Female Pirate ever to terrorize all of mousedom. As if the portrait of Professor Ratigan alone wasn't enough to test a mouse's endurance. In fact, it was the very same sewer rat that had ended the tyranny of the pirate. One would generally assume, "Oh well ... that's one LESS criminal to worry about." But something about the entire situation bothered Basil.

He met the pirate bat herself, face to face. She was somehow less tyrannical and more motherly than anyone would've imagined. Not to mention that she herself had doubts about the life she was leading. Her end didn't make Basil happy, nor did it relieve him. Just the the opposite. It greatly angered him and made him only more intent on the search for the nefarious Professor.

The woman's fate had come to a tragic end. But what was worse than the fate of that woman was ... her second-in-command. A young boy ... this boy in particular was a maniacal little monster. At least ... that was the impression Basil got. But the pirate bat herself begged to differ ... She somehow saw him as an innocent. Basil, being the skeptical he was, would've refused to believe such a thing, except ... her journal. The very same journal in which the words of her own hand painted an entirely different image of the boy. A victim is what she had called him. A sweet, innocent boy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She beseeched Basil to save this boy. And now Ratigan has him!

"If only you had _stayed_ here," Basil whispered as if he was still talking to ... her, "then I would've _done_ something. But _no_ , you just _had_ to be a martyr. And what service have you _done_ for that boy to begin with!?"

As Basil complained to thin air, he opened up the journal the pirate bat had left him. He read it in its entirety once, mainly for the sake of searching for more clues. But Basil was too tired to do any detective work tonight. After all, he only had Mrs. Judson to clean up house. Nobody was around to help him with his cases. Now he was about to read it again, this time in memory of ... her.

These are the unspoken words of a pirate who gained infamy, only to be eliminated in the end by the Napoleon of Crime. These are the unspoken words of ... Captain Lillian Bates ... The _Poisoned Lilly_ of _The Bloody Rose_ ...


	2. Journey back to 1875

**Although this one was not my very first pastiche story, this one is actually a prequel to Don't You Dare Deny Me. Originally, I had not intended to have any prequels and move forward from Don't You Dare Deny Me (I'm the kind of writer who likes to move forward, not backwards, otherwise I'll go nuts). But, as I was writing the character biography for Captain Lillian Bates, I started getting a multitude of ideas in my head that were just begging to be written separate from the biography.**

 **This story is loosely inspired by the classic Diary of Anne Frank and will be frequently swapping from 3rd person to 1st person, between Basil's perspective and Captain Lillian Bates's perspective. Enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 1: _Journey Back to 1875 ... Captain Bates meets Fidget_**

June 10, 1875

 _I will never forget that night ..._

 _We just returned from our last plunder in Liverpool. The mouse that was my guardian my father had passed away paid DEARLY for the way he treated ME. I was a respectable pirate now. A full-fledged pirate, queen of the seas, skilled, feared, powerful, and beautiful. I sat on my throne in the cabin as Ravenwing attended to his usual duty of steering the ship. It wasn't really a throne I sat on, it was just a chair like any other, but I liked to BELIEVE it was a throne. Part of me must've still been that little girl who loved to play pretend ... as if the world were full of rosy possibilities ... endless ... But NO! I would NOT have such weaknesses on MY ship! The Nightwing Crew would question my authority ... such defiance is unforgivable!_

 _But alas, I was getting old. As I was once under the tutelage of the infamous Rose Nightwing, which the ship was named after, I would too need someone under MY tutelage. But which crew member would I pick? All were skilled in the art of piracy (I SHOULD know; I TRAINED them myself). All were obedient to my every command. Of course, they would only obey AFTER I yell at them. Some I've had to threaten to walk the plank if they ever disobeyed me again. I overheard a few of them plotting to betray me. It turns out I trained them a little TOO well. Sadly, as much in abundance I had of crew members, I couldn't choose any one of them to be my replacement. So I found myself considering the unthinkable ... I would have to choose someone who was too stupid to plot against me. He would have to be SUBMISSIVELY obedient, almost like a DOG. Did I mention that I was the ONLY woman on The Bloody Rose?_

 _THAT'S RIGHT! Men were my enemies. And rich men I hated even MORE! So how on earth did I end up with all male pirates under my employment!? What was Captain Rose Nightwing thinking!? I guess girl pirates were a lot harder to find than I imagined. Most would rather be prim and proper, following the ways of Queen Mousetoria. Unfortunately, those kind of women DISGUSTED me! Always whining about their dresses not being the right color, foolishly dependent on a man to rescue them from any little sign of trouble (even if it was so much as tripping over their clumsy feet). And their DRESSES!? Bloody hell, how could they even STAND wearing those dresses!? If only they learned to wear pants ... like ME. It's much more comfortable and practical._

 _My thoughts were suddenly disturbed when Blade, my second-in-command, came to my cabin with a pleasant surprise._

 _"Oy! Captain!"_

 _"What!?" I heaved in exasperation. Blade KNEW I didn't like to be disturbed whenever I was deep in thought ... yet he frequently did it ANYWAY! I'm surprised I haven't asked Vulture to have him EXECUTED._

 _"Hawkeyes found this BOY crawlin' on all fours, Captain!"_

 _Blade, who was slightly taller than I was, gestured his dark wings to Hawkeyes, who held a small gray-furred bat in his brown wings. This boy had blood dripping from the left side of his head. I didn't get a good look at his face; he was hiding it from me with his webbed hands as he shook._

 _"Where did you find him!?" I demanded to know._

 _"Not too far from the docks," Hawkeyes answered. "Blade found a few dead priests by a crevice not too far from where this boy lay. Looks like the boy hit his head pretty hard."_

 _"The boy must've been daft!" Blade mocked as he looked at the boy bat with a slight hint of contempt. "I'd say 'E must've killed those priests, but 'oo would kill mice and then 'it 'is 'ead in broad view where someone would find 'im!?"_

 _What Blade said made now sense to me. Nevertheless, I didn't care. I was particularly interested in this little boy they had found. "Hawkeyes, fetch some bandages and dress the boy's wounds! Blade, when Hawkeyes is done, YOU bring him back here to ME."_

 _"Aaawww, but we have barely enough food to feed the rest of the crew as it is!" Blade complained. "Why can't we just throw 'im in the river!?"_

 _"Am I not your Captain, Blade!?" I replied with a stern voice. "Did I not specifically ask to do one simple task!?"_

 _"Beggin' your pardon, Captain," Blade replied; I noticed he had flinched after I raised my voice to him. "It's just that ... if we keep this boy, we won't 'ave any food left to provide for YOU. I 'ear little boys love to eat a lot."_

 _"I will be the judge of that!" I reminded him. "Now, go with Hawkeyes and help him bandage the boy's wounds!"_

 _Blade heaved a disgruntled sigh, then he did as I ordered. He had BETTER! I've become very distrustful of Blade lately, but I haven't seen or heard him once complain about the work I made him do ... until NOW. Still, I couldn't shake that feeling in my bones. He would take unusually long to get a simple task done. And I know Blade to be very clever and quick, so I knew it had nothing to do with any lack of intelligence. Luckily, Blade wasted no time in bringing that boy back to me, his head bandaged in white gauze. But this little boy still had his face covered with his webbed hand. I rose from my THRONE and slowly approached the boy. He was shaking from head to foot, practically crawling out of his skin. Obviously he FEARED me. All the better ..._

 _"What is your name, boy?" I asked in a soft voice. I'm not sure what in the world made me act motherly toward this boy. I did NOT believe in being silent and ALWAYS spoke in a stern voice. How else would the crew fear me if I spoke like a mouse!? Then the boy slowly lowered his hands. I was able to see his face now. He had yellow eyes, practically the color of the sun. Red rims encircled them. I took one good look into those eyes. They were so ... BLANK. He must've still been in shock from that head wound. I knelt to his level and extended my left webbed hand to touch his face. Before I could prepare myself for it, those shrunken black pupils widened ... and then he BIT me._

 _I recoiled my hand in shock. It didn't hurt that much (I've dealt with worse injuries). The boy had baby fangs ... and I was in such an unusually motherly mood to take offense. He should consider himself lucky for this, otherwise I would've given the little brat such a whipping he would NEVER forget. And I would do it in FRONT of the whole crew (and yes, I am THAT mean)._

 _"What is your name, boy?" I repeated, much softer as I gently stroked him underneath his chin with my right hand instead. His body managed to shake less upon my motherly touch, so I picked the boy up and placed him on my lap. His blank expression returned. "W-whrr ... am ... I ...?"_

 _WHERE AM I? was what I heard the boy utter. He spoke so softly that, if I had not been a bat, would'v'e been barely audible. He had a ... rather high pitched voice, almost like a boy soprano from choirs. In all honesty, I thought it sounded really sweet and soothing ... NO! I CANNOT allow myself to get attached to this BOY! I am the Captain, HE is my SLAVE._

 _"You're on The Bloody Rose, little boy," I told him. "Blade and Hawkeyes were the ones who brought you here."_

 _"B-blehde ...? H-hawkis ...?"_

 _I noticed a slur in this boy's speech. Either the head wound was more serious than it looked, or this boy was a terrible speaker to begin with. I continued to analyze this boy with my hands. He was ... a little on the pudgy side, but that can be easily remedied (all us bats had baby fat at one point). However, his wings were strong enough and his legs were sturdy. He was PERFECT! Just what I need to train as my replacement! But this boy sounded so ... innocent. That meant ... he wouldn't be able to plot against me at all!_

 _"I'm being easy on you NOW because of your wound," I spoke to the little boy bat, this time my voice was stern "... AND I'm a little tired. But I will make it clear to you. I am the captain of this ship. As long as you remain on MY ship, you will obey all of MY rules. You understand?"_

 _The boy bat sucked on his thumb in a pensive manner before he looked back up to me and nodded._

 _"GOOD! I shall bring you food and something to keep you warm, until you're in better condition. After that, I will teach you how to to hunt for food yourself. You WILL learn it. No bat on this ship is allowed to be idle or defiant!"_

 _I called for Hawkeyes to take the little brat under his wing and to have him fed. I could stand the sight of a cute little face for so long. And since dawn was almost here, I needed to rest. Tomorrow evening, the boy's training begins ..._

The mouse detective temporarily closed the journal for a moment to ponder over the content of Bates's entry. Then he thought about the night she came to his flat. Basil recalled Bates once saying how she regretted that she had Hawkeyes executed. He repeated that name in his head. _Hawkeyes ... Hawkeyes_. Basil never had the opportunity of encountering Hawkeyes, who had already been dead anyway. Bates described him as a brown-furred flying fox Rose Nightwing found on an island by the Pacifc Oceans who lived solely on fruit. His real name was Aheahe Kahiau. Rose Nightwing had dubbed him the name Hawkeyes because he had a distinguished golden-colored eyes and was the only bat of the crew who had a reversed sleeping pattern. While the rest of the crew were dormant by day, Hawkeyes was awake, able to spot enemies who would dare to trespass on their ship and steal their treasures. According to Bates, Hawkeyes joined the Nightwing Pirates because his family were victims to the eagles, who hunted flying foxes for food. All of the pirates of the Nightwing crew had their names changed to some _code name_ , usually after birds of prey to strike fear in the hearts of those would oppose them.

However, this Hawkeyes was different from the rest of the crew, and not just because he was a ... flying fox or whatever Bates called it. This Hawkeyes was actually a _fatherly soul_. The family that were killed by the eagles in his home happened to be his wife and three children (one son and two daughters). And this Hawkeyes that Captain Bates spoke of was best friends with ... _Fidget_.

Yes, that was the name given to that little boy bat in the journal that both Hawkeyes and Blade found with a head wound. The boy had amnesia and didn't remember his name. And because that boy had a tendency to fidget a lot, Bates decided to give him the code name _Fidget_. Hearing the name alone, Basil would've laughed it off, for it completely defeated the purpose of _striking fear_ to opposers, as Bates would so boldly claim. But Basil _had_ seen how this Fidget character _fought_. And it was _no_ laughing matter at all. But Bates described the relationship between Fidget and Hawkeyes in such a way one would hardly believe these two to be real pirates at all. Not to mention that Hawkeyes was always the most faithful of crew members on The Bloody Rose. And Bates had suspected that Hawkeyes had some ... _feelings_ for Bates. In Basil's opinion, Hawkeyes sounded more like a gentlebat of society than a pirate.

 _"If Hawkeyes was so faithful to you, why did you have him executed?"_ Basil remembered asking Bates, scratching his head.

 _"Blade lied to me,"_ was Bates's answer. _"He told me that Hawkeyes was turning my new pupil against me by helping him escape."_

 _Aha!_ So it was _Blade_ who was responsible for the fall of The Nightwing Pirates. Basil remembered Bates telling him that she was beginning to get more suspicious of Blade's motive with each passing year. Blade was a black-furred, slit-faced bat, which was part of the reason he earned _his_ code name. The other reason for Blade's name was because he had a skilled hand with a sword which never left his side. Bates never trusted Blade as far as she could keep a wing's length from him. It was Rose Nightwing, the vile-hearted pirate who had trained her, who told Bates that Blade was a good second-in-command. But Bates didn't learn until much later that Blade was actually jealous of Fidget's popularity. He didn't like that Bates made _Fidget_ her second-in-command and often bragged that _Fidget_ would be the new Captain of the Nightwing Pirates when she was gone. Fidget was practically the Captain's pet, and Blade didn't like that one bit.

Basil's mind suddenly dwelled back on that night when he had first met Fidget. Yes ... He remembered it so vividly as if the incident happened just yesterday ...

As the fog lifted from the docks, a small, seemingly demure boy bat knelt there with both his wings crossed in front of him, nude from the waist up. An orange bandana was wrapped around the boys head, a small black chain with a ruby pendant shaped like bat-wings hung on his neck. Although the bat's age was uncertain, Basil assumed the boy was at least fourteen and reaching puberty. If it weren't for the slight turn of his head, Basil would've concluded that the bar was a statue. But what was most mysterious about this boy, aside the fact that Basil had never seen him before, was that his crossed wings forming a letter "X" in front of him made him look very _effeminate_. It was a common trait Basil had noticed from Captain Lillian Bates and her whole band of Nightwing Pirates. The whole crew he knew to be somewhat androgynous and often dressed in ways that one couldn't tell their gender just by looking at them. But _this_ creature? This one seemed ... _different_ from the rest. And ... Basil noticed something else. Although it was somewhat dark, the mouse detective could see scars across the young boy's chest. The boy was very skinny, practically _starving_. Either he was once a homeless child from an abusive relationship or just plain careless with his own body, Basil assumed. Though Basil was generally a very serious and disliked hooligan children, he couldn't help but feel a bit of empathy for this poor creature.

"You there, young chap!" Basil called. The boy bat still remained motionless with the exception of a slight turn of the head. "Are you ... in some kind of pain?"

The bat did not respond but slowly rose to his bare feet and stood straight. Even his mannerism of lifting himself to a standstill position looked effeminate. Was this boy a mute, Basil wondered?

"Why won't you answer, young chap?" Basil asked the boy. "Is your mother close by?"

"So ... _you're_ da one called _Basil of Baker Street_?" the boy uttered in a low voice with an undertone of warning. Even his voice sounded effeminate, like a young boy soprano in a choir. "It's such a _pleasure_ to finally meet you."

The mouse detective shook his head in disbelief. "You ... _know_ my name!?"

" _Everyone_ knows your name," the boy replied. "Such a nice sounding name. _I want to have it_!"

Suddenly, the young boy opened his eyes, revealing two yellow glowing slits. Before Basil could say anything more, the boy lunged forward and punched Basil in the stomach.

"Guuugh!" the mouse detective gasped as he fell backwards on the wooden planks of the dock, clutching his stomach with both hands. Before Basil could recover from the pain, the young pirate bat leapt onto the mouse's chest and pinned both his arms down with incredible force. Basil was stunned. He didn't anticipate a boy bat of that size to have unreal amounts of strength.

"For someone who's da _greatest mouse detective_ ," the boy bat spoke, a childlike giggle escaping his throat, "you're incredibly _stupid_ to trespass here on _Captain Bates's_ land! She is _our queen_ , you should swear allegiance and _bow_ to her!"

"Your ... _queen_ , you say!?" Basil uttered as he struggled to free himself from the boy bat's grasp. "Ludicrous! The only rightful queen here in mousedom that I serve is Queen Mousetoria herself!"

The young pirate bat cocked his head back and laughed. "Dat _pompous bitch_!?" the boy retorted as he squeezed Basil's arms, causing the detective to seethe through his teeth in pain. "Da same one who mocks and ridicules our kind every day, banishes us to transportation, and leaves us to starve!?"

Basil's eyes narrowed in anger. "How _dare_ you speak that way about our queen!"

" _Your_ queen, _not_ mine," the boy bat giggled, this time his cutesy giggle turning into maniacal laughter. "Dhere is only one queen here, and dat's Captain Lillian Bates!" The boy bat's webbed hands slid from Basil's forearms and onto the mouse neck in a choke hold. " _Swear allegiance_ to her ... or _die_!"

Before Basil would ever allow panic to take hold of his mind, he punched the boy in his right eye, causing him to recoil in pain. The boy bat covered his injured eye with both hands, while his better eye caught sight of the mouse detective heading toward him in his direction. With quick reflex, the bat jumped out of the way and flapped his wings in the air as he watched the stupid mouse detective crash against a pole (which greatly amused the boy). "You t'ink a punch would faze me _dat easily_!?" the young pirate mocked. "I'm a warrior of da skies! You cannot catch what you cannot reach!"

The young pirate bat flew away, leaving Basil to fume in defeat. The boy only stopped for a moment as he clutched himself against the pole and withdrew a bag of shillings from his pocket. "I just want to t'ank you for da shillings, _Basil of Baker Street_! Da queen of da Bloody Rose greatly appreciates your _generosity_!"

Replacing the shilling bag in his pocket, the pirate bat took to flight again. Only his maniacal laughter echoed in the night.

 _Damn that little hooligan!_ Basil fumed as he puffed on his pipe angrily. He figured the bat must've grabbed the bag of shillings from his pocket while he was writhing in agony over his stomach. Then the mouse's anger faded just as soon as it had risen. Something Basil couldn't get over in his head was his first encounter with Fidget. When he had met the boy for the first time, he had a high-pitched, soprano voice, as if he were a choir boy. It was a stark difference compared to the bat he is now. Now the boy's voice was hoarse, raspy, and sinister. Basil assumed it must've been from all the cigars Fidget smoked. Upon one of the mouse detective's ventures in The Rat Trap, he often caught sight of Fidget playing card games with the rest of the Nightwing crew. Basil must've caught sight of Fidget during one of his moments of weaknesses, because he would see the bat distance himself from the crew nervously to go outdoors for some fresh air and light up a cigar. He must've lost the card game, Basil assumed. It wasn't surprising that villains would go out of their way to humiliate the loser of a card game if he didn't pay up. Captain Bates herself once told him that Fidget wasn't as _quick-witted_ as the other crew when playing. And as Captain Bates herself feared, the boy was becoming a bit _promiscuous_ ... Ironically, the boy bat still respected Captain Bates's boundaries and never tried anything on her. But this promiscuity wasn't just the result of Fidget reaching puberty. He was often challenged by Blade and the others, nearly pushing him outside his comfort zone more than he would've liked.

 _"Blade just wanted to make the boy's life miserable,"_ Captain Bates told Basil. _"He practically tortured the boy. Fidget seemed like the boy who just wanted a friend ... and neither I nor anyone else allowed him that. That is why Hawkeyes and Fidget were very close. If only I hadn't been so blind by Blade baring false witness, I wouldn't have had Vulture execute Hawkeyes. I believe the loss of his only friend drove Fidget to madness."_

"Friends or no friends, that bat is a maniacal little monster!" Basil shouted to himself in a defiant manner. "It was downright foolish of Captain Bates to take him under her wing. He would've been better off in an orphanage."

Nevertheless, Basil continued to read Bates's journal. He was just curious to learn more about this so-called friendship between Fidget and Hawkeyes.


	3. Hawkeyes and Fidget A Friendship Sev

Unspoken Words By: Reyelene

 **Although this one was not my very first pastiche story, this one is actually a prequel to** ** _Don't You Dare Deny Me_** **. Originally, I had not intended to have any prequels and move forward from Don't You Dare Deny Me (I'm the kind of writer who likes to move forward, not backwards, otherwise I'll go nuts). But, as I was writing the character biography for Captain Lillian Bates, I started getting a multitude of ideas in my head that were just begging to be written separate from the biography.**

 **This story is loosely inspired by the classic Diary of Anne Frank and will be frequently swapping from 3rd person to 1st person, between Basil's perspective and Captain Lillian Bates's perspective. Enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 2: _Hawkeyes and Fidget ... A Friendship Severed_**

June 20, 1875

 _It had been fifteen days in counting since the little boy was brought here to the Bloody Rose. I was never able to find out his real name, unfortunately the boy suffered from a traumatic form of amnesia. But no matter ... I have a better pirate name for him anyway ..._

 _When Rose Nightwing was once captain of this ship, she made it a tradition to assign each of her crew member names that would either strike terror in the hearts of offenders, a symbol of their skill sets, or simply throw offenders off guard. Vulture was a autumn-furred, funnel-eared bat and always only ate leftovers thrown at him by Rose for his supper (similar to a vulture ... not to mention UGLY!). Ravenwing, surprisingly, was a snow-furred bat like I was, but had stark black webbing on his wings, hence the name. His unusually black colored hair was fashioned similar to mine, if it weren't for the fact that his eyes were hazel, one could've mistaken us two for siblings. Then there is his fraternal twin, Crow, who had stark black fur and the same pair of hazel eyes as Ravenwing. Condor was named for his unusually large wings, which allowed him to glide gracefully like the bird of prey he was named after. Sparrow had an unusual pattern of browns and grays on his fur, much like a sparrow. That leaves me with Blade and Hawkeyes._

 _Blade was the tallest of the crew, AND the oldest. His fur is stark black, much like Crow's, except he was a slit-nosed bat and not nearly as attractive as Crow or his brother, Ravenwing. But at least he wasn't as ugly as Vulture, and had a very skilled hand with the sword and the very reason Rose Nightwing gave him the name. And I believe his loyalties were still with Rose Nightwing, even after her departure from this world. And then there is Hawkeyes ... A beautiful flying fox bat is he, with golden eyes that could see right through the windows of one's soul. And it was Hawkeyes who attended to the little boy while his head wound was healing. Hawkeyes described the boy as unusually quiet and somewhat slow, but had reminded Hawkeyes of his dearly departed son. How sweet ... how ... DISGUSTING!_

 _"Why are you and the boy TALKING!?" I demanded to know when I caught Hawkeyes showing our little slave some trick reminiscent of his old home. It was making the little boy giggle in delight._

 _"The boy hasn't spoken much since he came here, captain," Hawkeyes replied. "I figured ... if I could get him to talk more, he would be more useful to you and our missions."_

 _"I don't want him to TALK, Hawkeyes!" I informed him. "I want him to be OBEDIENT and nothing more!"_

 _When Hawkeyes looked upon me with soulful eyes, I could sense he was about to PROTEST. "But Captain Bates, please be reasonable! He's only a child ... and I've learned from the local English mice here that children who speak have more developed brains. The boy would be more useful to us if he spoke more."_

 _"TALK is for the IDLE-MINDED!" I reminded him. "Hawkeyes, you KNOW I do NOT tolerate idleness on MY ship!"_

 _At this, Hawkeyes heaved an inward sigh. "Ay, Captain ... if that is your will ..."_

 _Angrily, I threw my quill pen against the wall like a dart. That HAWKEYES was picking up Blade's habits, and it was beginning to piss me off! BE REASONABLE, he said!? There is NO such thing on this ship! We are the Nightwing Pirates, our mission is to exploit the rich for the pigs they are and to set an example to the world! Reasoning meant you had to be SOFT! If word spread that the Nightwing Pirates were soft, we would lose our standing!_

 _But wait! I'm getting ahead of myself! I was talking about the BOY. Hawkeyes told me that this little bat had a tendency to fidget his whole body a lot, especially when Blade would probe him for information (which the boy was unable to give). AND he became unusually nervous whenever the crew all stared at him at once like some circus freak. That's when I came up with the PERFECT name for him. One that would fool offenders into thinking him as a simpleton and not to be taken seriously ... That name ... is FIDGET ..._

 _"Hawkeyes!" I called. "Bring that boy to me!"_

 _"Ay captain!" he replied. The boy was brought to me without a second to spare ... just as it SHOULD be! I had Blade bind Fidget's ankles and wrists in chains, so that he wouldn't fly away. I was informed that he tried to escape ... obviously not a smart thing for him to do when there are eyes everywhere on the Bloody Rose. The boy had to learn his place on the Bloody Rose first before I could train him in the art of piracy. Blade told me Fidget acted aggressively when he caught him, spat in his face, being and kept babbling on about wanting to go home and to BRING MOMMY AND DADDY BACK (I never met the boy's parents-most likely they were dead). Blade said he delivered a swat to Fidget's face to keep him quiet. Of course, Blade had a heavy hand and his swat was hard enough to knock the boy onto the floor. It was times like that when I counted on Blade the most to maintain order on my ship whenever I was too exhausted or too preoccupied with OTHER matters._

 _"Y-y-y-you ... w-w-w-want t-t-to ... s-s-s-see M-M-ME!?" the boy managed to say. Obviously he had an uncomfortable look on his face, the chains must've hurt him._

 _"Yes, I do," I replied in my usual stern voice. "First off, I have a name to give you. Learn it well because I shall call you by it, and you WILL come to me when I do."_

 _"N-n-n-name?" the boy replied. "W-w-w-what is it?"_

 _I walked in circles around the boy as I fixed my eyes on him. "Henceforth, your name on this ship is FIDGET."_

 _"F-F-F-FIDGET?" the boy repeated, his expression as blank as the first day I lay eyes on him. I think he was puzzled as to why I gave him such a name. I didn't care! That was the name I GAVE him, whether he liked it or not!_

 _"I see your head wound has healed," I continued. "And you lost a little bit of that baby fat around your stomach line. I also know that Blade and Hawkeyes found you not too far from some mice priests found dead on the streets."_

 _"M-m-m-mice p-p-priests?" Fidget repeated, although he was confused as to what I was talking about. Obviously, he did not remember killing the priests, but it was obvious that HE was the one who did it. He HAD to be ... There was no one else present, plus Blade pointed out that he found a pistol in the boy's pocket. Those priests must've been heretics, I've read in the London Mouse that they have been hunting down little children with the purpose of making them their slaves. But these priests weren't attacking just because they were BORED. NO! Those heretics were actually henchmice who worked for a rodent by the name of Ratigan ... Professor James Padraic Ratigan. Being a rat of HIGH SOCIETY (or so he CLAIMED), he never got his hands dirty with murders and kidnappings. He would always have someone else do the work FOR him. THAT was how he remained MYSTERIOUS to the public. He DESPISED the so-called GOODNESS of mousedom as much as I do (if not a great deal MORE), and he certainly would NOT allow little children to grow up and be a part OF that world. So he would have his henchmice gather them when they're young, most likely by killing their parents first. It wouldn't have surprised me if Fidget's own parents suffered the same fate. But that pistol ... Blade had showed it to me. It looked very much like one that Professor Ratigan were to use, judging by how polished in looked. Most likely he pretended to be Fidget's HELPER and enticed the boy to use it on his own henchmice. It was a lot easier to persuade children to bend to one's will. It was not so easy to reason with hypocritical mice._

 _Wait a minute! Did the word REASON escape my lips!? I HATED that word! It reminded me too much of that pompous bitch of a queen called Mousetoria! That FAT, LAZY mouse queen made me SICK! She couldn't do a DAMN thing without that husband of hers, Prince Albert! And local mice thought SHE was attractive!? I've seen lady mice at The Rat Trap much better looking than HER!_

 _"I can sense you have a bit of a bestial nature inside you," I said to Fidget, shortly after I got over the silent rant in my head. I pulled the boy forward by the chains in an aggressive manner, a look of resentment appeared on his face. I could tell he didn't like to be pulled. But it was my way to see how quickly he reacted to an attack. He needed to learn this first if he is ever to be my second in command. A growl escaped Fidget's throat as I brought his face closer to mine. I think he wanted to BITE me._

 _"Now THAT'S what I like to hear," I uttered in a low voice. "There's that BESTIAL nature I'm talking about. Just the thing one needs to inflict pain on those who would do you harm."_

 _"L-l-l-let m-me g-go!" the little boy was trying to demand me. "I d-d-don't l-like d-dat!"_

 _"And I don't like little BRATS who talk back to their ELDERS!" I said through gritted teeth. "Obviously, you've got a LOT to learn, little Fidget."_

 _"W-w-what do you w-want M-ME for!?" Fidget asked._

 _"I want you to join us in our cause," I told Fidget. "You have been outcasted from society, Fidget, just like the rest of us. Whoever your mother and father were, they don't exist anymore. And certainly NO ORPHANAGE or mouse couple will take a bat in, even if he's STARVING."_

 _"Why!?" the boy replied in an angry tone of voice. Yes, I WANTED that anger to come out._

 _"Because the mice's sovereign queen, Alexandrina Mousetoria, passed a law in mousedom that all creatures of the night be cast out to maintain mousedom's INNOCENCE. WE are bats, Fidget. WE are creatures of the night by nature. That queen's law forbids us to get a proper education and prevents us the convenience to go to a market to buy FOOD. It also leaves us bats prone to danger where rodents would allow us to be raped and beaten by aggressors, while those FAT, LAZY mice will walk by as if nothing is happening. I've seen these things happen for many years, Fidget ... and we, the Nightwing Pirates, will stand for it NO LONGER!"_

 _Fidget's yellow eyes began to brim with hurt mixed with rage. I must've hit a nerve somehow. My plan was working PERFECTLY! I was getting the boy riled up. But one couldn't rely on rage alone. It HAD to be controlled, otherwise he would get himself and the rest of the crew into mortal danger. Which is why I discussed with Blade and Hawkeyes the tests I intended for Fidget to take. The first one involves a noose to be wrapped around his neck, his task would be to free himself from it. Of course, we still had to have his wrists and ankles bound to make it more ... CHALLENGING. Allowing him to fly would defeat the purpose of the test. The other two will involve sparring among the crew ... and STEALING. Fidget had to learn how to properly defend himself ... AND he will need to learn how to take back what the rich have greedily kept from us!_

"What the rich possess was never yours to begin with!" Basil shouted as he temporarily closed the journal, trying to get over the blasphemy of it all. It's downright unwise to think oneself to be entitled to _anything_ without properly earning it! Basil slapped his forehead in disbelief as he pondered over what was written in the girl pirate's journal. _She thought she was protecting the boy from the EVILS of the world,_ the mouse detective thought to himself. _But she has BRAINWASHED him beyond belief! Now any hope of the boy's salvation is GONE_! And what did Bates mean by Queen Mousetoria passing a law that forbade them to get proper education!? What the hell kind of nonsense was _that_!?

"Leaving bats prone to be beaten and raped, _indeed_ ," Basil grumbled. "Sounds like you left your new _second-in-command_ prone to Blade's abuse! Foolish, _foolish_ woman!"

No matter how many times Basil ran into cases similar to Bates's, it always angered him greatly to no return. So many innocent lives lost at the hands of the ignorant and stupid! Well ... maybe not _wholly_ innocent, but there was _no_ excuse for taking a life, _period_! Not to mention all those poor children whose parents have been victims of criminal activity. And if parentless children were not brought to an orphanage in a timely manner, they were forced into slavery, either by having to beg and steal for food, or being kidnapped by crime lords and forced to due their bidding. And sadly enough, Fidget happened to fall into that category.

"I'll never understand why some women feel the need to declare war on boys. I'm not a father, but I know better that shackling a boy's wrists and ankles doesn't teach him obedience. It teaches him _rebellion_. Captain Bates would've been much better off if she allowed Hawkeyes to do the disciplining, at _least_."

And speaking of Hawkeyes, Basil remembered reading in the journal that Bates's was put off by the fact that Hawkeyes was encouraging Fidget to speak. The mouse detective couldn't understand why the idea of children speaking would offend or annoy anyone. He couldn't even understand why public schools were offended against the idea of speaking. _It would disrupt the class,_ teachers often claimed. More often, Basil saw it as a sign of weakness on the teachers' part. And he knew not all teachers were good. Some were downright impatient with students ... especially Professor Ratigan. It was the very reason he was fired from Oxford University.

Basil remembered Bates telling him how she deeply regretted having Hawkeyes executed. Hawkeyes was the bat who wanted to nurture Fidget's _good side_ , (his _least corrupt side_ as Bates called it). The captain confessed that sometimes she herself was jealous of Fidget's youth and innocence. So inquisitive and full of wonder, Bates described him. So much of him reminded Bates of herself when she was a child ... or as she phrased it in her journal, when she believed _the world was full of rosy possibilities_. Most of what he knew about Hawkeyes was what Bates told him, he was no longer mentioned in the journal after his execution. Basil remembered as he sat in this same chair right now, Bates sat across from him. This was her story on the relationship between Hawkeyes and Fidget:

June 1890 (Bates's narrative-NOT written in the journal)

 _Hawkeyes was always a gentle soul. I found it hard to believe someone like him ended up in the realm of the infamous Nightwing Pirates. Fidget had failed the noose test after three attempts, he complained that it was too hard and he didn't like not being able to fly while taking it. I scolded him severely for NOT TAKING IT LIKE A MAN. I didn't want Fidget to dwell on silly dreams and believe that ALL PEOPLE WERE GOOD. I wanted him to be tough. The brute strength would prey on the weak without a shred of guilt. I ... guess when I scolded him it hurt him more deeply than I imagined. Shortly after I yelled at him, Fidget followed me. And he did something that I wasn't prepared for. He hugged my waist. I think that was his way of apologizing to me for failing. And how did I repay him? I pushed him away. It wasn't the first time I've pushed him away. There were many times when he would approach me, a shy smile gracing his face. He would give me a flower that he picked whenever one of my crew trained him to hunt for food on his own. They were ... lilies that he picked. One would've thought such a gift would warm a lady's heart; I took it as an insult. I snatched the humble bouquet of lilies he picked, tore them to shreds, and threw them on the floor. I wanted NOTHING to do with men, PERIOD. I thought Fidget was trying to WOO me. I was too blind to see that he was just looking for a mother's affection._

 _One night, I actually overheard Fidget crying. He didn't realize this, but I had the door to my cabin slightly opened to check on him. Earlier, Blade and the others were giving him a hard time. Blade mocked Fidget for being too slow-witted for failing the noose test three times (honestly, Blade didn't pass the noose test the first three times either ... Rose Nightwing told me this). Blade called Fidget an UNLOVED CHILD, no mother would ever love him, and that the boy was too ugly and too chubby. Fidget wasn't really chubby, he only had a touch of baby fat on him. I should know, I have a good eye. Still, I saw Fidget on his knees and hunched over, trembling all over, tears trickling down his face like waterfalls, looking pitiful in those shackles I made him wear. Somehow, I got these ... maternal instincts, telling me that I should've gone to the boy to comfort him. But what did I do instead? I detached myself, believing that Blade's harsh treatment of the boy and the mockery from the rest of the crew were all part of teaching him how to be tough. Then I saw Hawkeyes appear, assuming the coast was clear. The rest of the crew were away hunting for food._

 _"Poor child," I heard Hawkeyes say to Fidget in a soft voice. "I don't know why our captain makes you wear these chains, denying you the power of flight."_

 _After he uttered such words to the boy, I saw him withdraw a key from his pocket. I glowered in anger. Hawkeyes STOLE my keys. Naturally, something like this would've caused me to storm out and punish Hawkeyes for such an underhanded act. But I chose to detach myself still. I knew my crew members were used to hearing me yell all the time, I didn't want my approaches to be too predictable. I watched as Hawkeyes held Fidget's shackled wrists with fatherly affection before turning the key to loosen them. He then turned the key to the shackles on his ankles._

 _"Can you move your limbs?" I heard Hawkeye whisper._

 _I watched as Fidget moved his wrists in a criss-cross manner. It looked as if his movements were a bit stiffened due to the shackles he had worn. The boy then spread his wings wide, producing a few flaps enough to get himself airborne just before landing on the ship again. Then Fidget walked forward in Hawkeyes's direction, somewhat stiffly just before tripping and falling face first on Hawkeyes's lap. I heard Hawkeyes chuckle in delight._

 _"I would've tripped too if I were shackled for that long," Hawkeyes replied as he allowed Fidget to lift himself off his lap._

 _"Listen, daybreak is almost upon us," Hawkeyes continued to speak to Fidget. "Everyone else will return with food before going to sleep. If you come with me I will teach you how to hunt for food on your own."_

 _"Y-y-y-you w-would?" Fidget stammered. The boy was always a very poor speaker, it was no wonder Hawkeyes wished I allowed him to encourage Fidget to talk._

 _Hawkeyes nodded. "The next time Blade and the others mock you again or try to starve you, you'll be much quicker in getting your food."_

 _Fidget's yellow eyes glimmered with happiness at the sound of this. I think that was what gave him the motivation to excel in his skills because the next time I made the boy undergo the noose test once again, he passed. And he finished a lot quicker than I expected. He also got better at catching the food Blade and the others would toss around in order to mock him. And Fidget bested Blade in combat. Of course, it was not to Blade's liking. The next challenge, however, was not so easy for Fidget. It was a test of stomach for him ... I succeeded in getting Fidget to use his anger in a competitive way ... Although he was the smallest of the crew and the skinniest (he lost all that baby fat, by the way), he had the desire of a beast and the strength of a demon. However, a part of him was still that little child, clinging onto comforting fantasies, overly sensitive to pain and suffering of another, and having a tendency to let his guard down real easily. It was as if Fidget had some ... effeminate quality to him, not wanting to take the life of another. It somehow made him look cute. Alas, I had no time for cuteness on my ship. All I wanted was for him to be my new second-in-command. Blade's tactics were starting to BORE me._

What Captain Bates called _effeminate_ in describing Fidget's reluctance to taking another life was actually called _sane_ in Basil's book. And wasn't Captain Bates's tactics making Fidget even _more_ vulnerable to Blade's scorn? After all, wasn't Fidget being chosen as the second-in-command the very same thing that provoked Blade to betray the Nightwing Pirates? There were just too many questionables to deal with at the moment, Basil had to soothe his temples. He then re-opened the journal to find out more. And what he had read made him shake his head in disbelief.

June 20 1878

 _"You can't live like this forever, Lilly," Hawkeyes whispered to me while on one knee._

 _"What did you just call me!?" I always got suspicious whenever any of my crew members did not properly address me as Captain Bates._

 _"Ok, I'm sorry ... Captain," Hawkeyes corrected himself. Now that was more like it. "But seriously, you can't go on hating every man that wants to know you."_

 _"And why not!?" I demanded to know. "I've survived this long already. I've always had to be the brains of the crew. If a woman does not take charge in any given situation, she will end up being a man's play-thing."_

 _"Maybe in the past, that would've been the best logic," Hawkeyes continued, "but those men are dead. And our youngest crew member knows nothing about the struggles you've faced. Why should he be punished for something other folks have done to you?"_

 _"Because, Hawkeyes, he may be young now, but he will grow up one day and reach puberty. The full moon is when our inner-most passions are strongest. And you know what'll happen when Fidget reaches of age, don't you?"_

 _"You're not suggesting that Fidget will RAPE you, are you?" Hawkeyes shot one golden eye at me inquisitively as he asked this. I rolled my eyes back, this conversation was starting to bore me. No, I did not believe that Fidget would rape me, I would never let him if he even tried. As a matter of fact, I had the mind to spank the living daylights out of him if I ever caught him laying eyes on any woman. I wanted him to fear me still, even when he grows up!_

 _"Fidget already fears you enough, Captain," Hawkeyes continued. "He sees you as a mother. Do not deny him that motherly affection the boy desperately needs. You know you can always count on me if he becomes too much of a problem."_

 _That last comment made me shoot a suspicious look into Hawkeyes golden eyes. What I saw in those eyes at that very moment was an enamored stare ... in my own eyes of coal._

 _"Why, my dear Hawkeyes," I chuckled delightfully. "Are you in LOVE with me?"_

 _At this Hawkeyes smiled. "And what if I am, Captain?" The man was in love with me, I could tell. I even caught sight of his webbed hand beginning to hold mine. I smiled ... but it was temporary._

 _"If you are in love with me, then I would have to kill you," I told him. "Love is a word to fool naive young virgins into reproducing only to appease the surplus population. I want no part of it."_

 _A frown appeared on Hawkeyes's face, as I expected. Still, he had the audacity to hold my hand, if only for a brief moment, before raising himself to his feet and attending to his duties. But somehow ... I felt a certain ache when he left my cabin. I had a very strong urge to call him back in ... But I sat there, frozen as a statue and left to my thoughts. Why didn't I say anything? Why didn't I go to him?_

 _June 20, 1880_

 _Fidget had been helping himself to some food he gathered ... on his OWN. I could not believe it! The boy was improving TREMENDOUSLY! Soon after my talk with Hawkeyes two years ago, Fidget passed the noose test. And he had learned to become quicker at getting his food whenever the crew toss it around for sport. Sparrow, who was generally in charge of mopping the deck, handed the responsibility to Fidget ... made sure he did not mess it up. Sparrow KNOWS too well that I like a clean and tight ship. Fidget would relieve Condor for guard duty, sometimes the boy lived up to his pirate name because he swayed too much rather than stand still like he was SUPPOSED to. Because it would make such a noise, Ravenwing (my other guard) pulled the boy by one of his large ears_ _until he got it through his head that a guard was supposed to be QUIET. Crow, who was in charge of making the weapons, gave Fidget a dagger to use in case he had to gut someone. Crow liked to call the dagger "Fang." The only two of my crew that Fidget had NOT spent time with yet were Vulture and Blade._

 _Vulture was my assigned executioner, in charge of passing sentence to any stowaways that were caught on our ship ... OR to any crew member who would DARE betray the Nightwing Pirates. Fortunately, I've never had to use Vulture's services for that purpose ... until one evening ..._

 _"Captain! Captain!" I heard one of my crew cry out. I was sipping my beer, I almost choked on it. Curse whoever it was that disturbed me from my drink! Upon shifting my eyes upward, I saw Blade standing by the door._

 _"Alright, Blade, what IS it?!" I replied in an annoyed manner. "This had better be IMPORTANT!"_

 _Blade knelt to the floor and gracefully motioned his left wing inward to pay respects to me. "I wish it weren't, my most wisest Captain," he replied. "But I bring terrible news. It's ... HAWKEYES."_

 _"What about Hawkeyes?" I asked inquisitively._

 _"He's ... HE'S A TRAITOR!" Blade blurted._

 _"WHAT?!" Was I hearing correctly what I THOUGHT I was hearing?_

 _"He's been plotting against you, Captain!" Blade told me with panic in his voice. "He's not training our Fidget to be a Nightwing Pirate! He's been training Fidget to ESCAPE!"_

 _I crossed my wings and gave Blade a suspicious look. I would've believed him if I didn't suspect he was saying this out of spite. He seemed to despise Hawkeyes, though the reason for it had been unknown. "How do you KNOW this, Blade?"_

 _"I just HEARD him talking to Fidget about escape!" Blade frantically replied. "Vulture heard him to if you don't believe me!"_

 _I highly doubted that Hawkeyes would do such a thing. He was too IN LOVE with me to ever think such a thing. Nevertheless, I just had to make sure that was still the case. So I waited until everyone else was asleep. It was pretty taxing to my body to deny myself the beauty sleep I needed, but I needed to know what my Hawkeyes was up to. I peeked out the cabin window. I saw Hawkeyes stand on deck with Fidget at his side. I saw Fidget embrace Hawkeyes at the waist and Hawkeyes embraced him back. Alright so far, things seemed pretty normal. I've seen Hawkeyes and Fidget hold each other before. Fidget looked up to Hawkeyes as if he was his own father. But then ... I heard Hawkeyes say something that made my heart stop ..._

 _"Soon, you will no longer be at the mercy of The Nightwing Pirates, Fidget," I heard Hawkeyes say. "Soon, you will be a FREE bat."_

 _"Have you found a lady friend, Hawkeyes?" Fidget replied. "If so, will you marry her?"_

 _"Indeed, I do and I WILL!" Hawkeyes said with such pride. "And she would make a perfect mother for you. She's ... just a little shy, I'm afraid. She's been living in a shell for so long, but I think she's slowly coming out of it."_

 _My body had grown cold as I fell to my knees and clutched my chest. Hawkeyes ... MY Hawkeyes! Blade was telling the truth! He IS a traitor! And what is worse ... HE'S CHEATING ON ME! My anger began to brew in the pit of my stomach ... and I could no longer hold it in._

 _"TRAITOR! BLASPHEMY!" I cried, causing both Hawkeyes and Fidget to jerk their gazes in my direction. Then I cried for all the Nightwing Pirates to wake up from their slumbers. I ordered Ravenwing and Vulture to seize Hawkeyes by his large wings ... then I ordered Blade to take Fidget into my cabin._

 _"Captain, what's wrong?!" I heard little Fidget cry out as he squirmed in Blade's grasp._

 _"Your mentor has failed you, little Fidget," I told him. "He is a traitor to the Nightwing Pirates! And for that, he must DIE!"_

 _"What are you talking about?!" the boy cried, confused by my current state of rage. "Hawkeyes is no traitor!"_

 _"You DARE question our Captain's authority?!" Blade raised his voice, pinching Fidget's right ear hard enough to make him whimper. "She KNOWS what she's doing! You should just SIT DOWN and SHUT UP!"_

 _Fidget bit Blade's right hand and stomped on Blade's left foot, causing him to howl in pain. "You don't scare ME, Blade!" the bat uttered defiantly. "Da only reason you cater to da Captain is because you don't like to see Hawkeyes propose to-"_

 _Blade swatted the Fidget across the face with the back of his hand (the one that was bitten). Because Blade was incredibly strong, it was enough to knock Fidget on the deck, rendering him unconscious. But that wasn't my primary focus right now. Right now, my focus was on Hawkeyes._

 _"WHY, Hawkeyes?!" I yelled just before I spat in his face. "You KNOW what the consequences of treason are! WHY would you send Fidget away from the Nightwing Pirates?! We're his ONLY family!"_

 _With those yellow-gold eyes of his, Hawkeyes gave me a confused stare. "I LOVE you, Lilly," he simply replied. "You KNOW my loyalty has always been with you. But this is NOT the place for Fidget, nor is it the place for YOU. Come with me, Lilly."_

 _"HOW CAN I COME WITH YOU?!" I screamed, slapping Hawkeyes in the face. "HOW CAN I COME WHEN YOU'VE FOUND ANOTHER WOMAN?!"_

 _"WHAT?!" Hawkeyes cried, looking as if he didn't know what I was talking about. "Lilly, I don't KNOW any other women. You KNOW THAT!"_

 _"Then how come I found THIS among your possessions?!" Blade called out. He placed his hand in his pocket ... and withdrew a piece of paper. He unfolded it and began reading the contents. "You are ALWAYS in my heart, my dearest LORELEI."_

 _Hawkeyes' golden eyes narrowed to slits. "So YOU are the one responsible for all this!"_

 _"I don't know WHAT you're talking about?" Blade replied in nonchalantly. "YOU'RE the one who failed to tell Captain Bates the details about this LORELEI woman."_

 _Once again, I slapped Hawkeyes in the face again. "I told you once before ... that if YOU were to fall in love with me that I would have to kill you. But NOW that I've seen that your LOYALTY was just a facade to tempt me ..." I couldn't finish telling him what I wanted to ... I could feel hot tears brim my eyes. I turned my gaze to Vulture. "We're going into those woods," I commanded. "Blade, YOU stay here and keep an eye on Fidget."_

 _"WHAT?!" Blade answered, looking shocked for some reason. "B-but, my Captain! Surely you should allow ME to do the honors of bring justice to the traitor!"_

 _"That is VULTURE'S job," I reminded him. "YOUR job is to make sure Fidget does not escape. And YOU will take Hawkeyes's place ... as Fidget's new mentor."_

 _"Y-y-you're leaving ME with this little BRAT?!" Blade protested. "B-b-but HE'S a part of this, Captain! He should be JOINING Hawkeyes!"_

 _"YOU WILL BE HIS MENTOR!" I raised my voice, beginning to lose my patience. "Or it will be YOU who joins Hawkeyes in his fate!"_

 _Blade sighed heavily, but then he agreed to do my bidding. He picked up the unconscious Fidget and took him to the cabin. All the better. I did NOT want Fidget to see this._

Captain Bates did have Hawkeyes executed ... by _be-heading_. Afterward, the decapitated head and body were thrown in the river for the sharks to feast upon. Blade told Fidget that Hawkeyes had run off _without_ him, never to be seen again, that Hawkeyes never cared for him. Captain Bates said she heard Fidget call Blade a liar and responded by punching Blade in the stomach. Then she heard the little boy crying all day. Captain Bates would've told Fidget what really happened, but held her tongue instead. She thought it best that Fidget did not know what happened, though it was quite possible that Fidget already knew or suspected. Unfortunately, Bates learned all too late that this so-called Lorelei was in fact Hawkeyes's dead wife. The woman in question that Hawkeyes was to re-marry was Lillian Bates herself. And how did she find this out? It was through the mouth of someone outside the Nightwing Pirates ... A fair-furred bat, Selena by name.

"Oh, you _fool_!" Basil rested his forehead in his left hand. "You _fool_!"


	4. Temptations of the Body

**Although this one was not my very first pastiche story, this one is actually a prequel to _Don't You Dare Deny Me_. Originally, I had not intended to have any prequels and move forward from _Don't You Dare Deny Me_ (I'm the kind of writer who likes to move forward, not backwards, otherwise I'll go nuts). But, as I was writing the character biography for Captain Lillian Bates, I started getting a multitude of ideas in my head that were just begging to be written separate from the biography.** **This story is loosely inspired by the classic _Diary of Anne Frank_ and will be frequently swapping from 3rd person to 1st person, between Basil's perspective and Captain Lillian Bates's perspective. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: _Temptations of the Body ... Fidget and the Prostitutes_**

Basil took a rest for an hour. The captain's journal entry was making him feel so sick to stomach. He needed to clear his head of all the things that enraged him. Mrs. Judson was finished for the night. Basil decided to take a nap, thinking it would refresh him. As the mouse Detective closed his eyes, he was pulled into a dream:

 _"Release that child!" Basil cried. Captain Lillian Bates gave him a stoic stare. "That is an order!"_

 _The captain still work expression turn into maniacal laughter. "RELEASE THE CHILD, you say?" asked Lillian. "Don't be stupid, Basil of Baker Street! This CHILD is with ME!"_

 _Fidget, whom Lillian referred to as a child, knelt before her like a soldier. "My queen," Fidget uttered in a soft voice. "What do you wish of me?"_

 _Captain Lillian Bates gave Basil a wry smile just before she turned her gaze to Fidget. "Teach this mouse a lesson in manners!" The captain commanded her second-in-command. "He needs to learn what happens to those who trespass among the Nightwing pirates' territory!"_

 _A chuckle escaped Fidget's throat. "It shall be done." The young lad bat withdrew Fang from his sheath with his right hand and pointed its tip at Basil's neck. A melodious giggle escaped Fidget's throat and his stare was glassy._

 _"Our captain rules dhis land!" Fidget told the mouse detective in a defiant manner. "No outsiders are allowed here ... Not even you, Basil of Baker Street!"_

 _"This land belongs to everybody!" Basil replied, just as defiant as the child, if not more so. "What you two are doing is willy-nilly placing your flag wherever you please, claiming you've discovered it!"_

 _"And why not?" Fidget replied. "Your sovereign mouse queen banned all creatures of da night from any opportunity we should've had! And she doesn't lift a finger to help us!"_

 _Basil dared not move for fear of provoking the young lad's hand to slit his throat. "You are called FIDGET, am I right?" the mouse detective asked. The lad bat nodded with a serene, yet cocky smile. "You say that Queen Mousetoria banned you and your captain from opportunities. But you are wrong, dear chap! You are not a warrior! You are a VICTIM! Your captain that you cling to for protection has brainwashed you!"_

 _Fidget growled in anger at Basil's response and poked the skin on the mouse detective's neck with Fang's tip, causing a slight bit of blood to trickle down. "How dare you insult our queen!"_

 _Basil chuckled at the irony of it all. The boy had insulted his mouse queen once, and now he got defensive with someone insulting his BAT QUEEN? But the mouse detective knew too well that Fidget wasn't really angry because of what he said about Captain Lillian Bates. Fidget was angry because Basil called him a VICTIM._

 _"You think using might against the meek makes you stronger?!" Basil continued, seeing that he now had the upper hand. "It doesn't! It only shows how WEAK you are!"_

 _The young lad trembled in anger, Basil simply smiled. But Lillian intervened by grabbing Fidget's wrist away (mainly the one that held Fang). "Fidget, let's return to the ship," the captain told him. "This is starting to BORE me."_

 _"B-but, CAPTAIN!" Fidget uttered in surprise. "You told me dat you wanted me to teach dis mouse a lesson!"_

 _"I know," Captain Bates replied. "But it appears Basil of Baker Street has no intention of fighting us. There's no challenge to be had."_

 _Fidget sighed in defeat as he lowered Fang from Basil's neck. He took out a rag to wipe the tip clean of the blood before replacing it back in his sheath. Both bats spread their wings and took to flight, leaving the mouse detective to relish in his victory._

Basil woke up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Strange ... He thought a nap would've taken his mind off the whole thing. Instead, he had dreamt of that night when he was face to face with Captain Lillian Bates and her soon-to-be second-in-command, Fidget. It was his second encounter with Fidget ever since that one night he had met him on the docks. Basil had encountered the two bats together in that _same_ location. The lad still had that young, boy-soprano voice. It wasn't too long after that second night that his voice became gradually deeper. Basil blamed it on drinking too much and smoking cigars. Aside from acting like a maniacal little monster, abducting upper-middle class to rich mice and torturing them, Fidget also developed some perverse attraction toward women. One of the women he always kept glancing at was Miss Kitty from _The Rat Trap_. From the information Basil gathered from local mice, Fidget was seen running out of the tavern with Miss Kitty's garter. An enraged Kitty ran out to chase him. Not to mention Fidget did kidnap a few ... beautiful looking mice women to be exact. They were caught in the docks, supposedly trespassing on the Nightwing Pirates's territory. Captain Lillian insisted on them being punished through torture ... but Fidget found them so attractive, he begged his captain to let _him_ do the honors. While these ladies were bound so tightly to the crow's nest that they couldn't move, Fidget gave each one a glazed look before planting a deep kiss on their necks. They were not bitten by the bat, but they were _repulsed_ (and who could blame them?). Then, Fidget did the unspeakable ... Slowly yet swiftly, he would remove the shoes from these ladies ... and then, he would stroke the soles of their feet with his webbed finger, tickling them. The poor ladies laughed uncontrollably, to the point where they were about to pass out. Captain Bates decided to let Fidget release them, concluding that those girls _have learned their lesson_ and weren't worth the trouble of executing. Fidget did not hesitate and obeyed his captains. They weren't physically harmed, but that didn't mean they weren't mentally scarred. Some of these ladies had fiances, others husbands. And then, Basil had heard Captain Bates boasting about some recent execution of a Baron von Freirherr and his wife. He heard that the wife was tickle tortured by Fidget until she no longer breathed anymore. Basil also encountered two surviving boys from the incident, they happened to be sons of the Von Freirherr couple. Basil brought them to Father Richards, he knew they would be safe with the mouse priest.

But Fidget's lust for women did not end there. In fact, there was more in the journal that talked about four specific women that aroused Fidget's sexuality, leaving him prone to just about ... _anything_. They were the four bat prostitutes.

October 1, 1880,

 _I knew it! I KNEW IT! I had anticipated that such a time would come. After all, Fidget IS a boy. I often overhead Blade challenge Fidget into it. Blade said women were less likely to be attracted to Fidget because he was too stupid and ugly. Ever since Hawkeyes's execution, Blade had taken any opportunity available to embarrass and exploit the little boy. From my cabin window, I saw Fidget shyly smile to some passerby women his age, attempting to give them the same bouquet of lilies he once tried to give me. But he didn't realize until it was too late that Blade had sprinkled garlic on them. He had received many slaps in the face by these women because of it. Somehow, the sight began to sadden me. It seemed like a part of him wanted to get away from The Nightwing Pirates. He was trying to live a NORMAL life ... but he BELONGED to the Nightwing Pirates!_

 _We had set sail to Paris, I figured there was some treasure to be found there. Wherever there were big cities like Paris, there was always a lot of loot. And it was the best way to keep a good distance from that Basil of Baker Street character that kept hounding us. It was in Paris where Fidget met his very first serious woman. I SAW her walking along the streets of Paris, something about her reminded me too much of those snobbish, upper class girls. She had a strange hairstyle that was shaped like a flower bud, a humble collection of long hair strands fell below her bum. She wore a pink dress and a bold set of jewelry. Fidget met her by the docks that we lowered our anchor by. She seemed unfazed that Fidget was a pirate ... or that WE were pirates and that one of us could SLIT her throat if it pleased us. She seemed intrigued by Fidget's fashion. The boy wore his orange bandana over his head, along with a black-and-white striped shirt, black pants, and yet he was bare-footed. But then I took a second look ... and saw that she was actually more intrigued by the ruby pendant Fidget wore around his neck._

 _So THAT'S why she was interested in Fidget! This girl looked like she had a THING for material wealth. I don't know what came over me that night, but I HAD to keep a close eye on her. I descended the steps and stood alongside Fidget. I withdrew my sword, Ruby-Rainfall (yes, that was its name-the blade was sharp enough to cause massive bleeding just by the touch of its tip) and pointed it in the direction of the girl._

 _"State your business here, lass!" I demanded._

 _She slowly turned her head in my direction, blinked her blue eyes three times, and smiled. "What exquisite butter knife you have there," she replied. "How many loaves of bread you cut with it?"_

 _I was holding a BLADE, NOT a butter knife! This girl was STUPID!_

 _"And what BEAUTIFUL yacht you have," she continued, fluffing up her orange hair with her left webbed hand and gazing upon the Bloody Rose. "May I ride on it?"_

 _And the Bloody Rose is NOT a yacht! It is a PIRATE SHIP! Clearly, this dumb girl has never seen or heard of a pirate ship before. I noticed that she had a tendency to skip words. For example, she skipped the indefinite articles "a" and "an" when inquiring about my "butter knife" and "yacht" as well as the verb "do" when "asking how many loaves of bread" DO I cut with it. And yes, I may have been a pirate, but I was NOT stupid. I KNEW my English grammar very well. But that was besides the point. I was more curious to know why this girl was so interested in one of my crew._

 _"You didn't answer my question!" I demanded once more. "WHAT is YOUR business HERE?"_

 _Her smile faded, but she still blinked her blue eyes as if my demand didn't faze her. "I was bored and lonely," she replied. "I wanted to go outside ... And then, I see THIS boy come here."_

 _Something about her statement being LONELY made me even MORE suspicious. I was watching her. She spent more time studying Fidget's clothes and that ruby pendant rather than Fidget himself. And judging my her clothes and bangled wrists, this girl looked like she came from a rich family ... giving me MORE reason not to like her. Then I saw her take Fidget by the hand to lead him somewhere. I tore the hem of her pink dress with Ruby-Rainfall, causing her to utter a baby gasp._

 _"I did NOT say you could take this boy ANYWHERE!" I scolded her. "And who do you think YOU are to speak to me like one of your men-friends?! Don't you realize that I am a CAPTAIN?!"_

 _She placed a palm against her right ear and pouted her lips, feigning to be hurt. "Why so MEAN?!" she cried. "Who does such thing to poor little Marie?"_

 _"And my pupil is NOT one of your men-friends either!" I continued, disregarding her last comment. "Keep your hands off him, you little minx!"_

 _The girl who called herself Marie raised both of her webbed hands in surrender. "Perdonnez, mademoiselle," she replied, her blue eyes wide. This time, she looked a bit shaken by my last response. "I see we got off on wrong foot, heh? My name Marie Bonaguide. Your little boy look hungry. I take him to my house, I treat him well ... si vous plait?"_

 _"You will NOT!" I protested. I wasn't sure what came over me, but I wanted to keep Fidget's boyhood pure. He made a much better thief when he wasn't distracted. Besides, I didn't want the boy to become another Blade on my ship. Each passing year, I was losing my patience with Blade, he would ALWAYS whine like a girl whenever I entrusted FIDGET with responsibilities that I once entrusted to Blade. And with each passing year, the memory of Hawkeyes's execution began to haunt me. I began to see a bit of Hawkeyes's influence on Fidget, and that influence alone was what kept the little boy loyal to me without a single thought of betrayal toward his captain. I knew Blade's reputation too well with women, they were merely SPORT with him. Why I did not have Blade exiled yet was because Captain Rose Nightwing, my mentor, swore that Blade was the most skilled warrior of all the others, second only to Hawkeyes. And he knew how to keep trespassers out, so his annoyance did come in handy at times. But what convinced me more of Fidget's boyhood was the fact that he gave me a sad, almost desperate look shortly after I was dismissing this Marie Bonaguide girl._

 _"P-please captain?" Fidget spoke to me in his boy-soprano voice. "Just once?"_

 _Although my natural instinct was to refuse vehemently, I saw the boy's body tremble as he averted my eyes. Something about Fidget's plea sounded as if Blade was giving him a hard time_ _again ... I guess he wanted an opportunity to get AWAY from Blade._

 _"Oh, VERY WELL," I sighed heavily. "Just make sure you don't lose your way."_

 _My pupil jumped excitedly and bowed, grabbing my hand in both of his hands and placing it against his forehead. It wasn't long before Fidget and Marie ventured off together in the foggy night. I only made one final call to him (and I KNOW he could hear me-he is a BAT after all). "And come back here the moment you sense trouble!"_

 _That would be the last time I saw Fidget as an innocent boy._

October 9, 1880

 _Well, its seems that little Marie hussie managed to put a SPELL on Fidget. He spoke to me of his business with Marie in great detail (some of it to my disliking). Marie did invite Fidget to her house, as she said she would. Fidget told me that Marie made sure he was well fed and no longer feared starvation anymore, he seemed unusually mellow as opposed to his usual fidgety self. Then I saw him withdraw something from both his pockets. On was a cigar, the other was a match. Unembarrassed that I was standing in front of him, Fidget struck the match and lit the cigar. My eyes blinked in surprise. My Fidget NEVER smoked before! In fact, Fidget always HATED the smell of cigars. He would often distance himself whenever I smoked or one of my crew members did by flying up the crow's nest. And one of the ways Blade gave Fidget a hard time was approaching the boy and deliberately blowing cigar smoke in the boy's face. But NOW, the same Fidget that I raised to be a rigid, no-nonsense pirate puffed on that cigar with very little hesitation. AND Fidget was shirtless in spite of those scars on his chest and back from his childhood (which never healed), normally he would've been too embarrassed to show anyone. Did Marie see him without a shirt? If so, I was quite surprised she wasn't disturbed by it._

 _"When do we set sail, Captain?" Fidget asked._

 _"Not until we find King Louis XIV's royal cape!" I demanded. "We're getting low on gold, we need to sell that cape to rich fools who are willing to pay handsome money for it!" I crossed my arms and gave Fidget a suspicious look. "You ... haven't FORGOTTEN about it, HAVE you?"_

 _Fidget smiled and shook his head. "Marie knows EXACTLY where it is, captain."_

 _My jaw dropped. "You haven't told her that we were LOOKING for that sort of thing, DID YOU?! Fidget, NO ONE else is supposed to know anything about it!"_

 _"What are you talkin' about, captain?" Fidget asked, giving me a confused look. "I didn't have to say anyt'ing. Marie said she saw a GORGEOUS cape at one of the museums and wants ME to get it for her. When I asked her about it, she said it was from a dead royal monarch named Louis XIV."_

 _Hmm ... that Marie Bonaguide seemed smarter than what I took her for. "Did you agree to her offer, Fidget?"_

 _Once again, I saw Fidget's sheepish expression. "Well I ... wanted to see her again. So ... YEAH!"_

 _I guess the boy worried that I would be disappointed in the answer. I wasn't. In fact, that was a great opportunity to obtain that cape. Of course, I wasn't going to let that hussie have the cape. Oh NO! We NEEDED that cape more than SHE did. So I devised a little plan for my slave boy._

 _"Why don't you ENTERTAIN your Marie for a little while longer," I told Fidget, handing him a bag of gold. "Get all the information you can out of her. Have her lead you to that museum. The sooner we can get that cape, the BETTER!"_

 _Fidget placed a webbed hand on his bare chest and sighed in relief. He knelt before me like a knight and placed his forehead against the back of my hand. "It shall be done, captain."_

 _I patted Fidget on his bandana-wrapped head. "Excellent!"_

 _I was delighted that the boy did not lose his fear of me. I was almost worried that Marie may have convinced him to run away into some distant land._

October 15, 1880

 _Fidget returned to the ship once again from his invitation with Marie Bonaguide. He was telling me that the cape was found in the Musée des Plans-Reliefs. It was located on the first floor, next to King Louis XIV's sword. I relished at the thought. How CONVENIENT! Not only would we obtain that cape right on schedule, but we had a chance of obtaining a sword too!_

 _"Excellent work, Fidget!" I congratulated him. "I am PROUD of you!"_

 _The boy smiled before withdrawing TWO cigars from his pocket. One he handed to me, telling me that they were the exact same kind I smoked (which they_ _were), then he lit mine up before lighting his. I smiled inwardly, greatly relieved that Fidget was still loyal to me. But then ... something happened that wiped my smile away like a mop to a dirty deck. Without warning, Fidget fell to his knees and tilted his head back. His body was arched backwards, allowing the light of the moon to shine on his chest and belly. He breathed hard and heavily, as if he was gasping for air. That was when I realized what had happened._

 _Six days ago, Fidget told me that Marie had kept him WELL FED and NO LONGER FEARED STARVATION ANYMORE. And I_ _remembered Marie saying that the boy LOOKED HUNGRY. It wasn't FOOD that Marie had fed him. NO! She had SEX with him! The boy's yellow eyes looked glazed, as if he were drunk, yet the only thing I smelled from him was cigar smoke ... AND the scent of someone who ENJOYED himself too much. It was the same scent I smelled from Blade whenever he engaged in such pleasures on his own (without consulting ME first, of course). I had a mind to BEAT this boy black and blue for dirtying his frail little body ... except that his frail little body looked even MORE frail than before. The boy was practically skin and bones! The little tramp was STARVING the boy to death!_

 _I quickly picked up Fidget and rushed him inside the cabin. We still had provisions of fish left, evenly spread out among all the crew ... but a small helping wasn't going to suffice in getting Fidget's strength back. So I gave him ALL of it. Since we were THIS close to getting our cape and the money to get more provisions later, I wasn't worried about the other crew needing it any time soon (they usually feasted in the local taverns anyway). Luckily, Fidget did not hesitate in eating the fish. He must've wanted the fish more than he cared to admit. His eyes were still glazed when he looked up at me, but his breathing had returned to normal._

 _"Since you've succeeded without making a mistake, Fidget," I began speaking, "you have earned yourself a rest."_

 _Fidget's ears perked up. "Y-you m-mean it?"_

 _I nodded with a smile. I never thought I would be glad to hear such an aggravating stutter. "Rest for the remainder of the day, Fidget. Tomorrow evening, we will get that cape. I also have one more favor to ask of you afterward."_

 _"What's dat, Captain?" Fidget asked._

 _"I want you to BRING your Marie Bonaguide here to The Bloody Rose."_

 _A smile graced his face. "Dhen ... you're not mad at me for ...?" His voice trailed off, he did not complete the sentence. He meant to make sure that I wasn't mad at him for having sex with Marie. I WOULD'VE been mad if he had not obtained information on the location King Louis XIV's royal cape so quickly and cleverly. And it just so happened that I was planning a little SURPRISE for Marie. So, the little tramp wanted the opportunity to ride my YACHT, did she? Well, she was going to GET it alright!_

October 28, 1880

 _Well, we have FINALLY obtained both the cape AND the sword without risk of the authorities catching us. As for Marie Bonaguide, it was our pleasure allowing her to ride The Bloody Rose. As a matter of fact, Marie was our PRISONER! Not only had she been robbing Fidget of nourishment and gold that he had rightfully stolen, but she had also stolen from OTHER folks. She was born to a rich family, obviously this family taught her NOTHING in manners ... or hard work! All she cared about was material wealth! I had the crew tied her up so she couldn't move. Her wrists were bound tightly behind her back, her ankles were bound, and her mouth was gagged. If she wasn't fazed the first time she saw me, MY Ruby-Rainfall, OR my Bloody Rose, she was quaking with fear now. I even noticed a fresh set of tears trickle down her face. My men wanted to have a little sport with her, but since Fidget had been the one seeing her, I decided that I should let HIM do the honors. When I watched the two of them from the cabin window, I was surprised at how Fidget approached his girl-toy. He knelt in front of her and untied the gag that kept her quiet. Upon removal of the gag, Marie screamed at Fidget, called him unspeakable names, and demanded to go home._

 _"You ARE home," Fidget said._

 _THIS made Marie behave in a hostile way. I witnessed her bite Fidget's left hand, I was THIS close to storming out the cabin to slap that hussy in the face. However, Fidget did not cry out. I was both awestruck and worried by this new behavior Fidget had displayed. Fidget was always sensitive to pain. He still was, I did see his face wince a little. But it didn't last and he simply looked at the pretty prostitute with a glazed expression, as if it never happened. With that same hand, Fidget smoothed Marie's orange hair with it. Then he picked Marie up in his arms like some baby, she spat in his face. Fidget simply ignored it and brought her down below. There was a room with a bed he would be taking her two. I knew this for a fact because I've seen Blade do it before. Curiosity got the better of me and I quietly followed Fidget. As I reached the bottom, I caught glimpse of the door closing. What was Fidget planning to do to her? As captain of this ship, I HAD to keep a close watch of my crew. There was a peephole on this door and luckily, the rest of the crew were resting since it was almost daybreak. So there was no chance of being caught off guard if I was looking. But before I slid the peep hole opened, I pressed my right bat's ear against the door to listen._

 _"Here you are, sweetheart," I heard Fidget say. I've never HEARD such talk coming from MY Fidget! Was he smitten with the girl?! Now I slid the peep hole to take a look. Fidget had gently placed the irritable Marie on the bed just before taking a handkerchief and wiping the spit off his face. Marie's blue eyes narrowed to slits when she looked in Fidget's direction. She demanded Fidget not to go NEAR her or touch her. Fidget just gave her that same glazed look before tilting his head back and laughing._

 _"YOU tell ME not to go near you?!" he chuckled. "Don't make me laugh, toots! I take orders from my captain, not YOU!"_

 _"You DISGUST me!" Marie spat vehemently._

 _"Oh, I disgust you?!" Fidget spat back. He placed his hand on his chest and feigned a shocked look. "Do you honestly t'ink I wasn't disgusted by how you LIED me?"_

 _Marie blinked in disbelief. "What do you mean?"_

 _"Oh, you FORGOT?!" Fidget replied in a lowered voice. However, this mannerism of speaking softly was not to woo this woman. This kind of softness had an angry tone to it. "Da first night I met you, YOU promised to give me food. After all, it was YOU who said dat I looked HUNGRY."_

 _Marie's jaw dropped in shock. Of course, I had a hunch that by HUNGRY, Marie meant that she was going to satisfy his sexual desires. Fidget, being the naive little boy he was, thought Marie was going to give him FOOD. And I expected Marie to be shocked, she probably said that line to ALL men she had seduced, though obviously NONE of them took her literally. She must've been surprised that someone like Fidget was expecting MORE._

 _"AND you said you would TREAT ME WELL," Fidget continued. "But it was YOU who invaded MY body! I kept askin' you where da food was, you grabbed me and tied me up ... just as YOU are tied up right now!"_

 _MY expression right now had matched Marie's. I TOLD him to come back to the ship if there was any sign of trouble! Either this Marie was much quicker than him and had him TIED up before he could run ... or Fidget simply chose NOT to listen to me. I preferred to go with my first assumption._

 _"Dhen you tore my clothes off," Fidget continued, sounding as if he was taunting her, "You exposed my scars dat I wanted nobody to see! You said dat I was da UGLIEST t'ing you ever saw, yet you played with my body, makin' ME feel SICK! And DHEN, you had me buy YOU dinners yet you didn't share a morsel with ME! You're just like BLADE!"_

 _The shocked expression never left my face as I was hearing the unthinkable coming out of Fidget's mouth. I had always thought that MEN were usually the instigators in such situations, NOT women! And I could tell that Fidget was NOT lying, I saw the angry expression on his face ... and I was NOT used to seeing him so angry. In that instant, I was reminded how I was once raped by a man called Bruto Santino ... and it had ruined MY life forever. And then I had remembered something Hawkeyes once said to me long ago:_ "Maybe in the past, that would've been the best logic, but those men are dead. And our youngest crew member knows nothing about the struggles you've faced. Why should he be punished for something other folks have done to you?"

 _If Hawkeyes were still alive, HE would've set Fidget straight. He would've WARNED Fidget against seeing Marie, HE would've seen right through Marie's little ruse. And I used to not take Hawkeyes's words seriously ... That all changed upon witnessing what I was witnessing NOW._

 _"I will say DIS much dhough," Fidget spoke, his once angry voice now changing tune. "Since our visits together, I STOPPED fidgetin'. Dhese cigars you gave me make me forget da pain." Soon after he said this, he struck a match and lit up his cigar. "AND unlike BLADE, YOU are much prettier ... AND you have da cutest laugh. SO ..."_

 _I watched as Fidget walked up to the bureau across the bed that Marie sat on. I saw him withdraw a goose feather from the top drawers before re-approaching Marie. He gently planted a kiss on her neck, though Marie was shaking like a leaf. Fidget lifted her ankles before sitting on the bed, then he rested them on his lap. What was he up to, I wondered? Then I saw him remove Marie's slippers, exposing her bare feet. Marie looked as if she was about to ask something, but before she had the chance to utter a word, Fidget began to tickle her bare feet with the goose feather. Marie twitched and bit her lip, struggling to restrain herself from laughing. Unfortunately, it did not last and a high-pitched laughter escaped Marie's throat. She begged Fidget to stop, but Fidget continued. Once again, i saw that glazed expression on his face with that plastered smile._

 _Quickly, I closed the peep hole, rushed up the stairs, and hid myself back into the cabin. I fell to my knees and clutched my stomach, as if I was going to be sick. What was happening to me?! What was happening to my Fidget?! Where was Hawkeyes?! Oh God, how I WISH Hawkeyes were here!_

No one knew what happened to Marie Bonaguide after the night she disappeared. Some folks said that the Nightwing Pirates tickle tortured her to death, a similar fate that would've befallen Baroness von Freirherr shortly after. Others said she had survived and, like the Von Freirherr children, was dropped off here in London, but was already half-mad (obviously from the torture she received) and was sent to Bedlam. It wouldn't have surprised Basil in the slightest. Another said Marie recovered and escaped Bedlam, probably going back to her prostitute lifestyle. Of course, Basil believed in searching for the truth, but Lillian Bates refused to tell him what happened to Marie Bonaguide, it looked as if the subject made her sick. She _did_ however, tell Basil about the other prostitutes Fidget had encountered. One was an American Floradora actress named Evelynn Nesbit, though most folks called her Velvet. Lillian did say that this Velvet girl was about the same social level as Fidget, and Fidget seemed more like himself with with her. However, Velvet was a distraction to Fidget's missions, since they talked about how much they hated work ... And Lillian Bates did not like laziness at all. She told Basil she had to punish Fidget by making him kneel on a pile of rice for an hour; because Fidget had sensitive knees, it was torture to him. Then there was that Scarlet Webster back in Lillian's hometown of Ireland. Lillian told Basil that Fidget liked Scarlet because she had challenged him to a duel. Not to mention that he got the most sexual satisfaction out of Scarlet. However, Scarlet had a tendency to _stroke the bat's ego_ , causing Fidget to speak out against the captain. Of course, that was the first and last time Fidget had done so, Lillian had the boy punished for that by allowing Blade to publicly beat him. Lillian Bates said it was to teach Fidget to control himself. Basil begged to differ. He believed that such acts caused the boy's body to shut down. It seemed as if this Fidget wanted to be loved and admired, even if women did not find him attractive at all. Or at least, that's what Blade often claimed. That arrogant bat would constantly remind Fidget of how ugly he was and that no woman would ever admire him. This caused Fidget to drink himself to a stupor in pubs, still latching onto that dream of finding a beautiful woman who would set him free from that pirate lifestyle. How utterly lonely and confused the boy must've felt.

But it did _not_ end there! For the final page of Captain Bates's journal mentioned yet one more woman Fidget encountered. And the situation would go from bad to _worse_.


	5. Betrayal! The Boy is in Danger!

**Although this one was not my very first pastiche story, this one is actually a prequel to _Don't You Dare Deny Me_. Originally, I had not intended to have any prequels and move forward from _Don't You Dare Deny Me_ (I'm the kind of writer who likes to move forward, not backwards, otherwise I'll go nuts). But, as I was writing the character biography for Captain Lillian Bates, I started getting a multitude of ideas in my head that were just begging to be written separate from the biography.**

 **This story is loosely inspired by the classic _Diary of Anne Frank_ and will be frequently swapping from 3rd person to 1st person, between Basil's perspective and Captain Lillian Bates's perspective. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: _Betrayal! The Boy is in Danger!_**

January 4, 1887

 _I couldn't figure out which behavior was the most shocking to me ... Fidget's newfound promiscuousness with ladies, or his ability to maintain loyalty to me in spite of it all. It was as if there were two sides to him ... and I KNEW he was not feigning any of it. I can tell when someone is feigning something. I've seen Fidget bring that Velvet woman to the quarters below, the boy would fetch her biscuits and brandy to make her feel more at home. Blade and the others would taunt and laugh at him whenever he got close to a woman. Sometimes, Blade would spread a rumor that Fidget was stricken by tuberculosis, causing women to distance themselves for fear they might contract a disease that did not exist._

 _Did I mention that there were only five left of the Nightwing crew (NOT counting myself)? Sparrow passed away from disease, he stupidly chose to disregard my rules when it was time for the crew to bathe. He skipped opportunities to wash himself because he didn't like waiting in line for ANYTHING. Unfortunately, it was his stubbornness that ended his life. Fidget used to mimic Sparrow for a time being, but came to his senses when he learned of Sparrow's death. Vulture, my former executioner, was caught by Fidget for siding with Blade to steal my gold and poison my brandy. Such treason was_ _UNFORGIVABLE! I ordered Condor and Ravenwing to beat Vulture mercilessly until he was too weak to fight back ... then, they forced him to walk the plank. I probably should've eliminated Blade once and for all since he tried pull that little trick on me, using Vulture as his puppet. But I did not believe in attacking too hastily and wanted to put some FEAR in Blade's dinner bowl. That piece of vermin needed to suffer where it would hurt him the most! Blade was going to pay DEARLY for what he was doing to my little Fidget!_

 _Of course, that is not to say that Fidget did not get himself into trouble with ME at times. His visitations with Velvet made him too idle, he completely neglected his mission in searching for treasure. I had to remind him how much I loathe idleness ... by taking a switch and beating the back of his thighs. Then there was Scarlet Webster from Ireland ... I remember that Fidget liked her because she also had a skilled hand in sword fighting. I probably would've considered her to join the Nightwing Pirates, if she hadn't filled Fidget's head with fantasies that he could take MY place as Captain of the Nightwing Pirates. Not that I wouldn't have considered Fidget to be my replacement anyway, but he still had A LOT to learn! But Fidget's visits with Scarlet caused him to go into uncontrollable fits of anger. He demanded to know why I killed Hawkeyes, then GOT WISE with me and said that I didn't know a good thing when I had it. I was so angry with him, I had Blade tie Fidget's wrists to a pole and whip the boy's back in front of the crew. Other than that, Fidget's punishments were few and lenient. And ... I guess I felt a little motherly pity toward him. That naive little boy I once knew him as was still there, wanting to be free. He had a rebellious spirit that I greatly admired, yet I still wanted him to maintain his loyalty to me._

 _But Blade wasn't the ONLY thorn in my side. In London, there was an infamous crime_ _lord by the name of Professor James Padraic Ratigan. He had been fixing his gaze on my Fidget for some time, the giant old rat even asked me if I would relinquish my little second-in-command. But I've overheard Ratigan's henchmen talk ... and it turned out that Ratigan was ALWAYS in need of a sidekick. First there was that Cheapside Chauncey who supposedly KILLED Basil of Baker Street's girl but was never seen or heard from again. Then he tried to pursue some little minx by the name of Allison (who happened to be another rat, by the way), who blatantly REJECTED his offer, much to the rat's anger. And there was also this Llewelyn of Breconshire who had a few of Ratigan's henchmen killed and betrayed Ratigan to the police, causing the rat to serve some time in prison. Of course, Ratigan escaped then found this dingy alley cat called Felicia to be the executioner in case any one of his henchmen were to betray him or upset him AGAIN. Something about Ratigan sent goosebumps up my spine ... and my female instincts were telling me not to trust this rat with Fidget. I just couldn't figure out why ..._

January 28, 1887

 _Fidget had not seen any other women since Scarlet Webster back in 1886, although he did at times flirt with Miss Kitty from The Rat Trap. And occasionally, Fidget liked to play a game of cards with the other crew, I guess his goal was to best Blade in any way he can. Of course, Fidget would lose, much to his embarrassment. But somehow, Fidget's losses stirred my motherly instincts toward him. He would come to me upset, almost as if the little boy were about to cry. Of course he couldn't, I didn't ALLOW crying on my ship and he knew that. But I could tell he worried that I would think of him as a failure or that I would have him walk the plank. I simply stroked the boy's left shoulder ... and told him that he was PERFECT as my new second-in-command. That evening had finally come! I announced to the rest of the crew that Fidget was my new second-in-command ... which caused Blade to turn as pale as a sheet._

 _"B-b-but CAPTAIN!" Blade whined._

 _I was expecting such a response. Blade NEVER changed. "But WHAT, Blade?!"_

 _Blade was silent. His stare was fixed on my indifferent face, his jaw hung open in fear._

 _"S-s-surely you must RECONSIDER!" Blade begged of me. "This BOY doesn't have what it TAKES to assume the responsibilities of a second-in-command!"_

 _I crossed my arms, still maintaining an indifferent composure. "And what makes you think YOU have what it takes, BLADE?!"_

 _"W-w-what do you mean, Captain?" Blade replied, his expression filled with disbelief to the words he was hearing now._

 _"YOU may have unbendable skills, Blade," I began, "but there is ONE thing you GREATLY lack to be worth of second-in-command ... and that is LOYALTY!"_

 _"B-b-but C-C-CAPTAIN!" Blade cried out. "I've done NOTHING but serve you for YEARS!"_

 _"SERVED me?!" I cocked my head back and laughed. "You call LYING to me about Hawkeyes's innocence SERVING me?!"_

 _Blade clutched at his throat with both hands. He had a mortified look on his face, I was pretty sure he didn't expect me to REMEMBER Hawkeyes. I withdrew Ruby-Rainfall and pointed it in his direction. "AND did you think your philandering was UNCHECKED? I HEARD you bragging about it to Vulture ALL THE TIME. You also tried to take credit for the things that FIDGET had done. Did you forget that we're ALL bats and have incredibly acute hearing?"_

 _Blades ears drooped in submission. Then his whole body began to shake. "I ... I did it all ... for YOU, Captain ..."_

 _Once again, I laughed. Rose Rightwing's IDIOTIC second-in-command looked no better than Fidget did at age eight. His sense of reasoning even SOUNDED like an eight-year-old. "NO, Blade! You did it for YOURSELF!"_

 _Blade fell to his knees, while Condor, Crow, and Ravenwing distanced themselves from him. Not to mention the other three fessed up to Blades deeds, causing Blade to react in anger like a child desperately wanting not to get into trouble. Now this sight brought an even bigger smile to my face. "Sometimes I wonder WHY Captain Nightwing took you in as second-in-command."_

 _"Captain?" came a voice. The crew and I turned our heads in its direction. It came from Fidget, who had been witnessing what was happening through the cabin window. "You're not goin' to ... KILL him, are you?"_

 _Now I was a bit surprised. Since Blade had caused Fidget a lot of grief, I would've expected Fidget to be delighted at the thought of Blade being out of his hair. "And why NOT, my little second-in-command?" I asked._

 _"We ... are so few, Captain," Fidget replied. "We ... already lost Hawkeyes, Sparrow ... and now Vulture. If we keep executin' our own crew captain, we'll be no more."_

 _My eyes widened. I did not expect such words of wisdom to come from someone like Fidget. This was the SAME BOY who struggled to speak. Hawkeyes was right all along about Fidget having some potential. Of course, I was still the Captain on this ship. I could NOT ignore the fact that Blade HAD to be punished. And as much as I trusted Fidget as my second-in-command over Blade, I knew too well that Fidget did not like punishment and may suggest we let Blade off the hook. "So, how SHOULD I punish Blade?"_

 _Fidget walked in my direction and knelt before me in his usual manner. I noticed Blade gave a repulsed look at the sight. "You are still my Captain," I heard Fidget say. "I would never DREAM of misguidin' your hand in punishment."_

 _Although I smiled at my new second-in-command's loyalty, I was losing my patience in his delay to answer me. "How should I PUNISH Blade, Fidget?"_

 _Fidget lifted his eyes up to me. "We could strip him of his weapons."_

 _My bat ears perked up in delight. Strip Blade of his weapons? I LIKED the sound of that. "EXCELLENT idea, Fidget!" With Ruby-Rainfall still in my hand, I motioned to both Crow and Ravenwing to strip Blade of his weapons. Blade looked at both of them in a confused manner, before looking back at Fidget and I. Then he questioned how he would help the Nightwing Pirates fight if he could not use his weapons. Blade's weapons marked his own identity, so he was not used to being without them. The punishment was working._

 _"YOU, Blade, will spend the remainder of your nights on all fours, scrubbing the deck!" I demanded just before I snapped my fingers for Condor to place the shackles on Blade. He began protesting how unfair it was, but his protests no longer fazed me. "And when my second-in-command gives you an order to do something, you WILL obey! If I so much as sense any act of treason or disrespect, you will meet the same fate as Hawkeyes! Do YOU understand?!"_

 _Blade did not respond but avoided everyone else's gazes and laughed. I think HE hated punishment a lot more than Fidget did, because he trembled like a virgin woman as he laughed. As for Fidget, he looked to the other crew with a sense of renewed authority. "Crow, give Blade a list of his chores," Fidget began to order them. "Ravenwing, report to me if you see any signs of treasonous acts from Blade. If I'm not around, report it to da Captain. Condor, if I am with someone, see to it dat we are NOT disturbed."_

 _By SOMEONE Fidget meant if he were to bring another woman to the ship._

 _"Captain, is dhere anyt'ing you need of me?" Fidget asked._

 _"No, that will be all," I replied with a smile. I was beginning to feel proud of my little second-in-command. "You may go to the pub on your own now. Just return back to the ship before daybreak."_

February 14, 1887

 _My new second-in-command was doing well for his position. Whenever Fidget checked on Blade to make sure the deck was thoroughly scrubbed, he would make Blade do it again if it wasn't. Blade obviously got angry at Fidget for ordering him around, but Fidget was no longer fazed by Blade's insults. And Fidget reminded him of the penalty that would befall the bat if he did not hold true to his word. Frowning in humiliation, Blade would do as Fidget said without another word. BUT as the rightful Captain of The Bloody Rose, I STILL had to make sure that Fidget wouldn't let this new position get to his head. Luckily, Fidget would always ask me questions on things, like the little child he still was. He often inquired if any acts of his own had reflected Blade's previous acts, Fidget wanted to make sure he wouldn't be making the same mistakes as Blade did. AND ironically, it was FIDGET who brought Blade food ... and Blade just HAD to accept what was offered, if he knew what was good for him. After all, I peeked through the cabin window and flaunted my Ruby-Rainfall in front of his eyesight to show Blade that I was watching him._

 _Because of Blade's newfound compliance, one would've thought all our troubles were over. Upon descending the stairs to the docks with Fidget, we were surprised to see a tall woman bat in the fog. Was this Scarlet Webster again? No, it COULDN'T have been! She was back in Ireland! I blinked my eyes to take a second look. No, she was much too tall to be Scarlet Webster ... yet her coloring looked the same. Then this woman approached us closer. I got a better view of her face this time. Unlike Scarlet's eyes, which were as violet as amethysts, THIS woman's eyes were more like an albino rabbit's eyes: Red and pink, like two bouquets of roses in perfect harmony. She wore a cream-colored European cap, a red shirt, black pants, and red slippers. She was slender and curvaceous, and her breasts were large. She was unusually muscular for a woman, but they did not detract from her overall feminine gestures. She briefly removed her cap to smooth back her short, dark hair._

 _"BELLISIMO!" she said with a smile. I had NO idea what this woman was saying, but her accent sounded as if she was Italian. "I NEVER thought I would see two youngest creatures ever to descend a pirate ship."_

 _Now this was curious. At least she wasn't as dumb as that Marie Bonaguide who once called The Bloody Rose a YACHT. Yet_ _something about this woman's presence ENGAGED me. Her beauty looked like something out of a fairy tale. If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed that she was Snow White herself, magically emerging from the pages of a book._

 _"And I see YOU are the Captain," this woman said as she fixed her gaze on me. "Is this little boy your second-in-command?"_

 _Before I could ask myself what I was doing, I nodded blankly at her question. She turned her gaze to look at Fidget, who was now staring at her just as blankly as I was._

 _"I hope your Captain will permit me to ... TOUCH this boy's face?" The woman asked._

 _Once again, I nodded blankly. But hey, WAIT A MINUTE! What was I DOING?! But it was already too late. After I realized what I was doing, I caught a glimpse of this new woman gently placing her palm against Fidget's left cheek. Fidget never came out of his daze, and the woman allowed her hand to slide from his cheek down to the side of his neck. Fidget's yellow eyes rolled back, as if he had been drugged, then he fell to his knees. The woman then knelt to his level and, with her opposite hand, began to do the same to Fidget's right side._

 _"Your second-in-command is sensitive to my touch," the woman cooed. "If you two have business to attend, don't let ME stop you."_

 _Coming to my senses, I quickly withdrew Ruby-Rainfall from my sheath and pointed it in HER direction. "What is YOUR business here, lass?!" I demanded. This was ALWAYS my usual greeting whenever Fidget brought an outside woman to the ship._

 _"My business is to find my uncle," the woman answered. Well, at least she ANSWERED my question, so that was a good sign. "I have travelled from a far, my uncle said he would meet me HERE. But ... I never received any telegrams from him or anything. Have either of you seen him?"_

 _Fidget had finally come to his senses as well. Both him and I gave each other puzzled looks. Had either one of us captured or killed anyone in that past that was as fair furred as SHE was with rabbit's eyes? Neither one of us remembered any such bat resembling her. We both turned our gazes to meet hers and shook our heads. The lady rolled her red-pink eyes and sighed. "Well, if either one of you do," she began as she withdrew a small piece of paper from her pocket, "please, let me know. In the meantime, here is my card."_

 _She threw it on the ground, still attentive to the fact that I still held Ruby-Rainfall in my hand. "I LIKE how you take good care of your blade, Captain. Hopefully I run into you two again."_

 _Without another word, the mysterious woman spread her large wings and flew away. I picked up the card she had left, carefully reading the content aloud: "Selena Lunarias, body guard of The Rat Trap."_

 _"Da Rat Trap?!" I heard Fidget blurt. "But Captain, I've never SEEN her before!"_

 _I folded the piece of paper in my hand and suspiciously pondered over what had befallen the two of us. What was this woman UP to? Neither Fidget nor I have seen this Selena character, yet something was ... oddly familiar about her ..._

April 30, 1887

 _Both Fidget and I have been seeing more of this Selena woman ever since we arrived back in London from our trips. Well, at least FIDGET had. For the most part, she seemed to give the boy such a thrill, whenever he returned from visits with her, seeming ridiculously mellow. I began to worry for my second-in-command, I saw him come back to the ship in that same daze he once held when he was first seduced by that Marie Bonaguide. Then I examined his body, he had not lost anymore weight so I was relieved with that. He told me that Selena promised both of us her weight in gold if we could help her find her uncle. One would think that, with my love of money, I would've answered YES to such a generous offer. However, her offer made me utterly suspicious. Why would a woman ask two pirates the whereabouts of her uncle when she could've asked for a DETECTIVE, like Basil of Baker Street?_

 _Curiosity enticed me to go to The Rat Trap. I asked the bar-tender if I could have a word with their BODY GUARD. He did not know what I was talking about, so I briefly described Selena's looks to him. He told me that aside from my Nightwing crew, Fidget, and myself, there were NO other bats in The Rat Trap, nor were there any that worked there matching my description. It was as if Selena had never set foot in The Rat Trap at all. And ... that wasn't all. For some odd reason, this Selena had her gazed fixed on ME!_

August 15, 1887

 _Fidget has invited Selena on the ship ... MORE than once! I began to worry that he would allow this Selena to distract him from his duties, like he did with that Velvet woman. But Fidget wasn't the ONLY one mesmerized by the mystery woman's presence. Condor, Crow, Ravenwing, and Blade all froze in their usual duties just to look in Selena's direction. If I was the kind of woman who did not believe in silly superstitions, I would've concluded that she had bewitched my crew._

 _Selena's presence began to make me shiver. Of all us bats here on The Bloody Rose, Selena kept her focus on me the ENTIRE time! I was looking at the map, trying to figure out our next destination for a plunder ... then my thoughts were disturbed by a face three inches away from mine._

 _"O, mi dispiace," I heard Selena say. "Did I frighten you, Captain?"_

 _"Who TOLD you to come in my cabin?!" I demanded to know._

 _"Why, nobody," Selena replied. "I just wanted to see if the Captain is well."_

 _If my own body didn't shake enough before, it began to shake now more than ever. "Why are you so curious to see ME?!" I cried out._

 _Selena did not answer but gave me a glazed look ... just before she placed her hand between my bare neck and bare left shoulder. My body suddenly went cold._

 _"You're quite pretty, for a pirate," I heard Selena speak in such a sugary voice. "Most other pirates I've read about were quite hideous."_

 _Suddenly, I felt something wet between my legs. I wanted to pull myself away from this creepy woman, but somehow I was FROZEN. What the hell was happening to me?!_

 _"I want to see just how BEAUTIFUL you really are?" I heard this woman say just before I felt her other hand pull down my sleeveless shirt, exposing my breasts. It was times like these I deeply REGRETTED not wearing the usual clothes upper class women wore._ _"Well, you have no scars. That's a good thing."_

 _Then something happened that made me spring into action once again. Selena attempted to fondle my right breast, so I slapped her hand away. Quickly, I pulled my shirt back up and withdrew Ruby-Rainfall from my sheath. "Try that again, you filthy bitch, and I will slice both your hands off!"_

 _Selena distanced herself from me, as I had hoped. But her expression was that of feigned shock. "Oh my! Are you taken, dear Captain?!" she uttered in a tone of feigned concern._

 _"I want you OFF my ship!" I demanded. "And I don't want you going NEAR my second-in-command!"_

 _Selena pouted her lips as she turned away to exit the cabin door. I watched from the corner of my eye as she approached the ledge of the ship, spread her large wings, and fly off into the night. What is WRONG with that WOMAN?! Does she realize that I'm a GIRL?!_

January 8, 1888

 _I thought I TOLD Fidget NOT to see that woman! CLEARLY, he did not listen to me! I heard laughter coming from his quarters! I know Fidget would never laugh on his own! I rushed over to peek through the peep hole! Sure enough, Selena was there! And she was ... Oh God ...!_

March 21, 1888

 _Once again, that ugly old rat, Professor Ratigan was pestering me to relinquish my second in command! I TOLD him I was NOT interested! My little Fidget was NOT FOR SALE!_

June 4, 1888

 _I heard laughter once again coming from the quarters below. But of_ _course, it wasn't Fidget's laughter. It was ... BLADE'S?! What was that piece of vermin up to?! I rushed downstairs to look at the peep hole at Blade's quarters. Selena was there ... and she was tickle-torturing Blade's bare feet with her webbed fingers. Tears began to stream down Blade's face, he could do nothing because he was still bound by the shackles we had placed on him over a year ago. Blade was begging Selena to stop or he would get in trouble with ME. Selena was speaking to him in a cooing voice. "You know you can tell me ... "_

 _"HAHAHAHAHA! NO MORE!"_

 _Now THIS actually brought a smile to my face. The pompous bat that was once Captain Rightwing's second-in-command was now reduced to this. For YEARS I've known Blade to perform such torture on women he philandered with. I've heard this many times from Fidget. I used to not believe him at first ... until I had witnessed one of Blade's midnight activities when he thought that I wasn't looking. Now it was BLADE'S turn to have his vulnerabilities exposed. It was such a relief to know that after all these years, Blade was finally getting a dose of his own medicine._

June 5, 1888

 _Dammit! Will that Professor Ratigan EVER give up?! I am growing WEARY of all this! I retreated to my cabin to gather my thoughts. I had sent Fidget out to run some errands for me, HOPEFULLY he doesn't get distracted AGAIN! And HOPEFULLY he doesn't ever go NEAR that big, ugly old rat!_

 _"So, it was YOU!"_

 _I jerked from my seat. Selena Lunarias stood three feet away from me._

 _"It was YOU who killed my Uncle Bruto!"_

 _My eyes blinked in disbelief as to what I was hearing. "W-w-what are you talking about?!" I demanded to know._

 _"You are the SOLE surviving victim of Bruto Santino," Selena continued, pointing a stiff, accusing finger at me. "And you LIED to me when I specifically asked YOU if you've seen my uncle!"_

 _My whole body went cold upon the name Bruto Santino. I haven't heard that name mentioned for YEARS! In fact, the only other one of my crew members who knew about my encounter with Bruto Santino was Hawkeyes. Who WAS this woman?!_

 _"You will pay DEARLY for the death of my uncle!" Selena demanded in a low tone, filled with unearthly anger. "You ... AND your second-in-command!"_

 _"Wait a minute!" I protested. "Why would involve Fidget in this?! He knows NOTHING about this!"_

 _A smile graced her face, just moments before her expression turned sinister._

 _"I KNOW Professor Ratigan WANTS the boy!" Selena continued. "He has BEEN after this boy for YEARS! It was HE who had Fidget's parents KILLED!"_

 _My mind was gripped with pure fear as memories of the past came back. That night both Blade and Hawkeyes found Fidget lying there, almost half-dead ... That was RATIGAN'S doing?!_

 _"AND I managed to get some information out of your FORMER second-in-command. The one called BLADE."_

 _BLADE?! What did BLADE know?!_

 _"If it weren't for Blade, I would've never known what happened to my uncle. He said he overheard you speak with someone called HAWKEYES."_

 _I gazed up at Selena with a mortified stare. How could I have forgotten?! How COULD I forgotten the simple fact that ALL bats have incredibly acute hearing?!_

 _"And I know how much BLADE despises Fidget. I PROMISED him his weight in gold if he and the others help me to get rid of him!"_

 _The OTHERS?!_

 _"And YOU cannot escape Professor Ratigan's wrath!" Selena spoke is such an authoritative voice that made even myself fall to my knees. I, the greatly feared Captain Lillian Bates of the Bloody Rose, was now reduced to THIS! And not by some philandering man! OH NO! By another WOMAN! I was quaking with fear now. I hadn't felt this kind of fear ever since I was little! And the only sound I could hear now was a maniacal laughter escaping from Selena's throat._

1890, Present Day

"The journal ends here," Basil concluded with a sigh.

The rest of the story was told to him the night Captain Lillian Bates had fallen at the steps of his flat on Baker Street. Apparently, this Selena character had made a deal with Professor Ratigan to guide Fidget his way, if he paid her a large sum of money for her troubles. The Professor was hesitant at first, but Selena assured him that it was _worth the trouble_ if he _really wanted that boy_ so badly. And she had managed to goad Blade into betraying the Nightwing Pirates, moments before she herself would lure Fidget into a trap by promising to _fulfill his every desire_ if he would meet her at the docks. And Fidget, still quite the naive boy he was, fell right into the trap. Selena was obviously strong enough to break Fidget's left wing. Condor held Fidget's right ankle in place on a slab, while Ravenwing held Fidget by his wings, and Crow held him by his left leg, which was off the slab. Selena had given Blade the honors to take a hammer and mercilessly pound Fidget below the right knee, breaking every bone in his shin, ankle, and foot until it would be _beyond_ redemption. Luckily, Captain Bates arrived just in time to Fidget's rescue, shooting three of her crew members for their treasonous act. Selena had already left shortly after giving Blade the gold _and_ the hammer. It was now a battle between Captain Bates and her former second-in-command, Blade. Blade had mocked how soft the Captain had become and how he thoroughly despised her for choosing Hawkeyes over him as her lover to be. The two bats had fought, sword to sword (Selena had helped Blade to get his weapons back), and Blade would've still had the upper hand until Fidget withdrew Fang from his sheath with his good hand and threw it in the direction of Blade's left hip, catching him off guard. With one swift motion of Captain Bates's Ruby-Rainfall, Blade's head was severed. Finally, Blade had received the same fate that had befallen the unfortunate Hawkeyes. It was a fate that was well deserved.

As for the fate of poor Fidget, Bates had rushed him back to The Bloody Rose. Bates was horrified at the sight of his right leg, tears had filled her coal-black eyes. She had desperately wished that putting that leg in a cast was good enough, but she knew the leg was beyond saving. She had a spare peg among her stash, the diameter was just right. Bates withdrew an extra stick to put in Fidget's mouth so that he could endure the pain that was to come. With her Ruby-Rainfall, Bates amputated the right leg. She quickly stitched up and bandaged what was left of the shin under his right knee so that Fidget would not bleed to death. As Bates attempted to fix his broken wing, she consoled Fidget in a motherly way, assuring him that she was there and that he had nothing to fear. However, Fidget's feelings toward her motherly gestures were not mutual. He began to curse Bates for executing Hawkeyes, for allowing Blade make his life miserable, and for completely ruining his life. Bates had described Fidget as a little boy who had gone completely _mad_. He had even resorted to mocking her, something that Blade would've done. Of course, Bates assured Fidget that he just had a bad ordeal and that she was going to find a doctor right away to fix his broken wing.

In a desperate attempt to find help, Bates encountered numerous rejections to her pleas. And who could blame them? After all, infamy always left a bad impression on people ever since the beginning of history. What made Captain Bates think today would be any different? Then Bates ran into two of Ratigan's henchman, who began to punch her in the face as if she were a man. She was able to stun them temporarily through sonar, biding her enough time to run away as far as she could.

And that was just the beginning ...


	6. Epilogue

**Although this one was not my very first pastiche story, this one is actually a prequel to _Don't You Dare Deny Me_. Originally, I had not intended to have any prequels and move forward from _Don't You Dare Deny Me_ (I'm the kind of writer who likes to move forward, not backwards, otherwise I'll go nuts). But, as I was writing the character biography for Captain Lillian Bates, I started getting a multitude of ideas in my head that were just begging to be written separate from the biography.**

 **This story is loosely inspired by the classic _Diary of Anne Frank_ and will be frequently swapping from 3rd person to 1st person, between Basil's perspective and Captain Lillian Bates's perspective. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 _June 7, 1889_

"Hold still!" Basil ordered the pirate bat. In his hand was a rag dabbed in ointment and he applied it gently to Lillian's face. The pirate lady trembled nervously but obeyed Basil's command. She didn't have a choice after all. Basil's opposite hand rested on Lillian's left shoulder, which calmed her down a little.

"Frankly, you're quite a _mess_ ," Basil commented, much to Lillian's discontent. "It's unbelievable you were able to make it. Ratigan's men are known to be relentless in strength, even if there's two of them."

"It's called _sonar_ , Basil," Lillian replied, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "It's strong enough to stun my enemies."

"I'm sure it is," Basil replied, slightly ignoring the sarcasm in the bat's voice.

Lillian sighed deeply. She had trembled a lot less, now that Basil was nearby. Her large ears slightly drooped back. For years Lillian and her pupil had made life difficult for the mouse detective whenever he got in their way. Now this same detective was dressing her wounds ... and speaking to her like ... an _equal_. In many ways, Basil's current demeanor reminded Lillian of her beloved Hawkeyes ... whom she had _wrongfully_ executed. "Unfortunately, I can only use it once; I can't use it again until the next hour."

"So you tell me that Professor Ratigan is after your second-in-command," Basil began to inquire. "Why does he want Fidget so badly?"

Lillian proceeded to tell Basil what she had learned from the mystery woman she and Fidget encountered. The pirate bat also proceeded to tell Basil the rest of her history, including Hawkeyes's wrongful execution, Fidget's newly developed dependency on liquor and smoking to ease his pain, and his encounter with the prostitutes. Upon hearing the details of Hawkeyes, who sounded like he was trying to _help_ the Captain, Basil suddenly became enraged.

"If Hawkeyes was so faithful to you, _why_ did you have him executed?!"

"Blade _lied_ to me," was her answer. "He told me that Hawkeyes was turning my new pupil against me by helping him escape. And ..." Tears began to brim in Lillian's coal black eyes, "... Blade also lied about Hawkeyes seeing _another woman_. A woman called Lorelei ..."

"And _who_ was this Lorelei you were so jealous of?" Basil asked, crossing his arms.

Lillian lowered her head as her tears became more apparent now. "His ... _dead wife_ ..."

"YOU _IDIOT_!" Basil exclaimed. " _HOW_ COULD YOU _DO_ SUCH A THING?!"

The mouse detective scolded Lillian for being such an arrogant fool in her hasty decision making, her negligence in taking proper care of Fidget, and her failure for not punishing Blade sooner. The pirate captain did not argue with Basil, but allowed him to yell at her, knowing deep down that she deserved it. Tears endlessly flowed down Lillian's face upon the realization of her errors. She mourned for her beloved Hawkeyes and she especially mourned for Fidget for all the needless suffering that he endured. And now, because of her arrogance and foolishness, Fidget now lay helpless on a bed inside The Bloody Rose with one leg only and a broken wing. Basil even scolded her for leaving Fidget alone, which now left him at a greater risk for being taken by Professor Ratigan himself.

Eventually, Basil took notice of the now broken down Captain Bates and stopped scolding her. He withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Lillian to dry her eyes. The woman was already in pain as it was, she just needed to grieve. After all, she also suffered greatly, being treated like a slave girl from her previous guardians, constantly under stress to keep order on her ship, and desperately needing the love she craved. It was as if the infamous Captain Bates herself had been brainwashed by her former captain, Rose Nightwing. Overall, the whole story that Basil had heard seemed like an endless cycle of brainwashing.

"Lillian, you don't have to live like this," Basil finally told her, wanting to at least give this woman a chance at hope. "There is a chance for you to start over. And there's a chance for Fidget to start over too."

By now, Lillian's tears were dry. She allowed Basil's word of wisdom to pour inside the vessels of her large ears and into the vessels of her once dark heart. "My name ... is _Ann_ ," the pirate bat spoke in a soft tone. " _Ann Carol Bonny_."

Basil's eyes blinked with curiosity. " _Ann_?" he repeated back.

Lillian nodded. " _Lillian_ was the name Captain Nightwing gave me. She told me it was because my fur was as white as lilies."

As _Fidget_ was the code name given to the boy her crew found by the docks, so was _Lillian_ the name given to Ann Carol Bonny. It was customary for pirates to have code names instead of real names. Basil provided the lady bat a tea and some scones to give her a little bit of strength back. The mouse detective also handed her a blanket to wrap around herself, she looked tired.

"Rest now," Basil told the pirate.

After she finished consuming her tea and scones, Lillian lay on the couch and fell asleep.

* * *

Two hours later, Lillian woke up to the mouse detective still sitting across from her. She a renewed energy after her little nap. Basil was still awake, he thought it best to never leave the bat's side in case Professor Ratigan and his henchman were to find her here. After allowing Lillian a few minutes to gather her thoughts, Basil began to discuss with her the benefits of starting a new life for both her and Fidget. But this offer came with a compromise ... a compromise that Lillian, unfortunately, would not allow herself to keep.

"I'm afraid I must go _on my own_ , Basil of Baker Street," Lillian insisted. "Fidget is still on the ship. He needs me now."

"What?! Are you mad?!" Basil protested. "Have you _learned_ nothing?!"

Lillian tilted her head back in an embarrassed manner. "I know, I know," she replied. "It doesn't make sense to you but ... this is something I _must_ do on my own."

"B-B-B-But, I don't understand!" Basil cried out in disbelief. " _Why_ won't you let me accompany you?!"

"If I involve you in on this, you could be _killed_ ," Lillian replied.

"Madam, it's _Fidget's_ safety we're talking about, _not_ mine!"

"Fidget doesn't trust you yet, Basil," Lillian told the detective. "He's already angry with me, but he'll go in a much greater fit if he sees the face of an enemy around. Fidget sees you as another _Blade_."

The poor mouse detective stood there stupefied by Lillian's crazy response. But Lillian would not change her mind. She knew if she wanted things to be set to right, she had to do it herself. But before she began to head for the door, Lillian pulled out a hard-bound book from her bags and gave it to Basil. "I want you to have _this_."

"Your _diary_?" Basil eyed the book suspiciously.

Lillian nodded. "In case I don't return, all you need to know is in there. And ... if you ever run into Fidget again, you _must_ tell him the truth. He _needs_ to know."

"Know _what_ , madam?" Basil asked inquisitively, unsure he was liking the sound of all this.

"He needs to know that ... I've _always_ thought of him ... _every day_. You must help him, Basil, in case I fail. Don't let Fidget became corrupt ... like _I_ was. He doesn't deserve that fate."

Basil's eyes rolled in a modestly flustered manner. What a tall order he was given. Save Fidget from becoming corrupt, the bat said? Hasn't he become corrupted already? Nevertheless, he knew too well it was pointless to try and change the pirate's mind. "If that is your wish," the detective heaved with a sigh.

Lillian smiled. "I will never forget your kindness, Basil of Baker Street. You have shown me that hope exists ... for _all_ of us."

"Indeed," Basil replied, smiling back slightly.

Without a second to spare, Lillian closed the door behind her to venture in the streets alone. This was the last time Basil ever saw the pirate ... _alive_.


End file.
